Sometimes a song rips but in a highly controlled way. LAPêCHE is good at writing those kinds of songs and “Elbow Grease” is one of them. Opening with a driving tom-tom rhythm a tight little guitar riff, the song exudes a dark coiled intensity from the start. And the entrance of yearning yet slowly metronomic vocals only adds to the sense of anticipation with the opening line “It’s not so easy to uncover without splitting the seams” confirming the impression of something that’s contained waiting to be released.
The song’s lyrics as a whole appear to revolve around control and efforts to maintain it, or at least to appear to even when failing. But at a couple points the moody vibe gets broken by a stomping half-time riff leading into a repeated refrain of “rusted anchor pull me down.” It could all be a metaphor for addiction or obsession or Fleet Week who knows. Or for throwing oneself over the edge of a figurative bridge with a figurative anchor tied around one’s foot.
Or a real bridge. Speaking of ripping in a controlled way, LAPêCHE just released an official music video for “Elbow Grease" this last week, and in the video lead singer/lyricist/co-guitarist/keyboardist/tiny dancer (not really that tiny) Krista Holly Diem shimmies and twists and struts across the Kosciuszko Bridge (which spans the mighty Newton Creek separating Brooklyn and Queens) like a rogue Jazzercise escapee and still mangers to get off some good moves even constrained to a walking lane on a somewhat heavily trafficked bridge. So again we got the theme of controlled chaos and it’s engaging to watch. It’s also engaging to watch because personally I’ve crossed this bridge a good number of times on foot and by bike but now I realize I was doing it all wrong. What you see above is a much more aerodynamic approach to the crossage, and plus people will get out of your way if you’re bopping around like Jack Lalanne on poppers (if only Ludacris had thought of this approach).
“Elbow Grease” is the final track on LAPêCHE’s recent sophomore full-length release Blood in the Water (New Granada) which had reportedly been in the can for about a year before release, originally slated to come out right around when things went to Hell In A Handbasket so the band and label wisely held off. In the meantime, they’ve reportedly almost finished their next album and I’m sure it helped they purchased a Band Pod™ by Hasbro and hunkered down for months on end writing a new set of songs which means at least something good came of all this.
And finally, you may ask yourself, did I learn these facts by conducting an interview with the band? Hell no do I look crazy to you! Instead I leaned them by watching someone else conduct an interview with the band on FLTV—otherwise known as the Footlight Bar’s official Vimeo channel which is located in cyberspace right next to Ridgewood, Queens. Each episode of FLTV features a single band put under the microscope by host Kendra Saunders who asks penetrating questions while wearing a fashionable glitter encrusted mask, as well as live performances by the band in question. And you can watch all the episodes from the first season for a small fee on their Vimeo channel. Now where is my commission FLTV? (Jason Lee)