Plus an Interview with lead singer Lola Lancón and director Persia Beheshti
Words by Willa Rudolph / Photos by Layla Blue Rudolph / Stills by Persia Beheshti
NYC’s fave euro-punk three piece Le Bang came out with their first single of the year, “Fashion Police,” via House of Feelings and have announced a release show at Nightclub 101 on January 8th. The track’s got a dancey bassline, militaristic drums, and effortless and detached vocals, giving way to a more full and fanciful chorus. It’s so activating and catchy, I’ve been singing it for two days. In typical Le Bang fashion, the song is just over two minutes long, but it’s packed FULL of ear candy (and eye candy, too).
“The song is basically making fun of people who take trends way too seriously and jump on them the second they appear,” Lancón explains. “That’s the surface layer. Underneath, the song is really about being super into someone and wanting to dominate them and have them undress, and they’re really into it.”
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about lead singer Lola Lancón is her ability to appear bored and full of attitude at the same time, pouty and paired down, but also ferocious and cut throat. We probably have her Parisian-ness to thank for that. Because she suggests a lot without doing too much.
With a music video directed by Persia Beheshti, “Fashion Police” captures Le Bang’s tongue-in-cheek critique of the fashion faux-pas committed by those who succumb to or blindly follow trend culture. It has the trademark slightly under-the-radar sexuality of bands like CSS, Ting Tings, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, calling upon the times of indie-sleaze, 80’s synth pop, and punk music.
Lola tells The Deli, “I’ve always loved anything that plays with the macabre in a fun way; The Addams Family, Tim Burton, Guillermo del Toro’s whole brain… Mostly I’m obsessed with the outfits and the sets in those worlds. With Persia, I pulled from all of that to build my own little version of those characters. And honestly, I’m a maximalist. I’m so bored of the super minimal music videos everyone is doing right now. I wanted this video to feel full, chaotic, and actually have a personality.”
Director Persia Beheshti tells The Deli about the video, “I wanted to build a kind of fashion headquarters that isn’t bound into a real space, but is more like a surreal set piece inspired by the ‘Milk Bar’ from A Clockwork Orange and David Lynch’s ‘Red Room’”. That aspect also makes me think of Greg Araki films like Nowhere.
Le Bang embodies imaginary fashion wardens, guardians of style, who must punish those who have fallen prey to the pretentious fashion world, who mistakes popularity or exclusivity for style. In Beheshti’s typical campy and over-the-top visual language, the music video takes us to an entirely new world.
Beheshti continues, “For the styling, I drew inspiration from Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games. I wanted the fashion to feel absurdly maximalist, almost satirical, as a commentary on the industry itself, while contrasting the stark uniforms of the fashion authority.”
Beheshti also cites being inspired by 1989 sci-fi/horror Dr. Caligari. Persia’s references blend so well with Lola’s, and their POV’s are really seamless when put together.
Le Bang is famous for their world building–Lancón invented characters for each bandmate, and an entire visual language that they stay consistent with. Hot pink, nerd glasses, super hero masks, and bunny ears; indie sleaze bold text, lightning strikes, and comic book-style illustrations.
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“Working with Lola was a dream because we pull from the same visual universe and both love building characters. The mannequins wearing lamps on their heads were deliberate, removing their humanity and turning them into objects of desire, serving the machine of fashion,” Persia concludes, excitedly.
As for what to look forward to regarding Le Bang, Lola tells The Deli, “We have our awesome release show coming up on January 8th at Nightclub 101 with Pisha, Spookystack, and the DJs Moonbby and Elektra. You should come, it’ll be a lot of fun. Then, our good buddy Gavin Oswald is working on a “Fashion Police” remix, and it sounds fucking crazy. We’re also working on our next song–it’s basically finished. This next one is going to be more pop, which is really weird to me. I’m trying to extend our horizons and see what we’re capable of.”
Le Bang are Billy Hay (drums), Stavros Lari (bass), and Lola Lancón (vocals).
Keep up with Le Bang here, Persia’s work here, and read our past pieces on Le Bang below!