There are certain bands that just get it. Those bands are the ones we hold close to our hearts and who have been with us through everything we never thought we’d make it out of. The relationship between artist and listener is a personal one. How many souls can you honestly say you’ve cried on your bedroom floor with? It doesn’t get much more personal than that.
After a long, frustrating wait – for both artist and listener alike – the time has finally come for La Bouquet to release their highly-anticipated debut album, Sad People Dancing. Aptly titled and full of raw emotion and grit, we think it’s needless to say that this album is everything La Bouquet fans have been waiting for and more.
It’s pretty difficult trying to put every emotion and description about a special record down into words when it invokes so many sentiments at once, especially for this highly sensitive soul. Thankfully, frontman Bryan Sammis knows how to craft an emotion into a song. Along with Jake Lopez and Drew Bruchs, La Bouquet specializes in the type of sound made especially for the “over feelers.” Listening to a La Bouquet track often feels like a nostalgic trip back to childhood when bands like Third Eye Blind ruled the airwaves all while morphing into the alternative sensibilities of your teenage playlists (blink-182, The Cure, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional).
Opening with tracks like “Heavenly,” “Bad News!,” and “Loveless,” it’s pretty evident that these guys are ready to get straight to the point but in an eloquent fashion. Displaying a sense of self-awareness as demons are put on display, Sammis poignantly paints a picture of the bittersweet relief of the end of a relationship, the bullshit that goes along with the music industry, and one’s fears of being numb & worthless as everything swirls around your mind in a haze.
Between the unrequited love depicted in “Pure Heartbreak” and the much-appreciated self-deprecating humor in “Pity Party,” we kind of feel like these guys just might catch our drift. Along with lovelytheband’s “Pity Party,” it’s safe to say that our favorite bands just might be kindreds. It’s about damn time. This is one party we can get behind. Balloons and tissues are on us!
Album highlight is without a doubt the chilling “You Only Need Me When You’re Blue.” With elements reminiscent of flor meets St. Lucia, there’s no denying the wow factor of this one. That sentiment continues right into “Sad People Dancing” and anthem of all anthems, “Loser Baby” – the title track saying it all and the line of “Please stop thinking, please just be here” is all you need to stay in the moment, grab those headphones, and dance the sad away despite how bad your heart might be hurting.
Remnants of “Kiss Me, Kill Me” from the band’s 2017 EP, Heavy Sunshine, return in the deliciously haunting “Scream My Name” while “1990” professes a gripping, honest breakdown of one’s inner demons, insecurities, and hopes that will have you grabbing for the nearest tissue box in the room as soon as the chorus hits.
Don’t let go of those tissues yet. You’re going to need them during album closer “The Sound Of Me Dying.” Mash this one up with The 1975’s “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)” and there’s no telling how deep into your feels you’ll go…that is, if you’re not down in that rabbit hole already.
I like to think of La Bouquet as one of those bands who represents a safety blanket; a solo party where you can be yourself and feel what you need to feel without the judgements of others breathing down your neck; like being allowed to be a human being that feels things rather than a robot put on autopilot that society tries to mold us into. If you need an album in your life that represents everything you’ve ever needed to say but just couldn’t, Sad People Dancing is the one. Put those headphones on and dance.
Sad People Dancing is available now here.
