Lola Pistola’s Lizard EP, out today, is the first thing since quarantine that really brought longing for live music back for me in a visceral, close-to-home way. Recorded at Studio G in Brooklyn, with just guitars, vocals, and drums, when I listen I can feel the sole of my shoe sticking to the floor and I can hear my ears ringing in spite of responsibly wearing earplugs. Drums by Robert Preston Cullum are rumbling and taught— you can feel them on your chest. Compared to her previous releases, it’s just so much bigger and wilder, but also more precise. You can feel that she’s found that line of comfort and pushing her own boundaries as an explosive solo artist.
Puerto-Rican born and Brooklyn-situated, Lola’s confidence and sense of self is palpable at this point in her journey from back-up singer to being the heart and brains behind her own acoustic-inspired punk universe.
The trip from the fist of the five songs, “Lizard,” to the closer “Dream City” rushes by quickly but powerfully and cleanly. An EP like this runs the risk of being repetitive and sparse but this is lush and surprising. Even when she’s screaming she’s kind of soothing, or at least cathartic – the “show my how to cry” refrain on “S.M.H.T.C.” acts as a climax, a half-way point or realization on this trip to “Dream City.”
On this final track, Lola’s arrived at this Angel Olsen-like croon to this kind of prophetic conclusion. It’s heavy with this sense of loss and longing but also an astute sense of clarity and conviction, sung at times languidly like in a dream. The tone sits so perfectly in her voice swimming in reverb.
Can’t wait to experience this live — follow Lola Pistola on Instagram and listen on Spotify.