Larissa Dalle
That’s What We’re Here For
This is the Chopper
This EP really pisses me off, because I wish it was an album. I love it, and I think we’ve just found ourselves a huge new talent.
The title of the record comes from the chorus of “Theme Song,” the opening song. To an intentionally corny lope, Dalle warbles, “Let us depress you/That’s what we’re here for/Give us an hour and you’ll wish/That you’d never been born.” It’s a dagger right to the heart of country music, but it’s a hilarious dagger played deadpan all the way. She pulls off another knee-slapper with the maudlin “Far From Lonely,” which either compares a lovelorn woman with a neglected Christmas present, or is actually about a neglected Christmas present. Either way, you’ll laugh your ass off every time.
These songs, and a couple more, are way more country-sounding than anything they play on any radio station these days, but they aren’t the only arrow in her quiver. Dalle, who sounds like a less-rangy k.d. lang, can handle a Holsapple-era dB’s vibe on “Life Is Good (In A Minor)”; she sounds like Liz Phair minus the potty-mouth on “Glitter Girls” and “Geronimo”; and I’m pretty sure that “One Trick Pony” is a stinging answer record to that Ben Folds song about his girlfriend’s abortion, except this time the girlfriend is the one singing, and she ain’t happy: “You… you’re just a coward.”
And that’s not even mentioning the song “Helen Keller,” where she talks about falling in love with Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker. Powerful. Strange. Just like Helen Keller.
Watch out for Larissa Dalle. She’ll never be huge or famous – but she just might be something much more important.
Larissa Dalle: http://www.larissadalle.com
