Lodro

TAKE a trip down to the underworld, trace the dirty gloom as your fingernails drag beyond your body as a crepuscule figure takes over you. Now put this threatening invasion into sound and you have the music of LODRO.

This threesome from Brooklyn spawn the ridiculously tasty neo punk artistry which accumulated back with bands such as; The Cramps, forcing insecurity with a modern twist upon an angry mass of submissive followers. 

'Snake Song' shared an introduction reminiscent of I Can't Hardly Stand It (The Cramps), a very simple electric prang, followed by single thumps, gradually becoming atmospherically in sync with a Hammer horror film. The harrowing vocality provided by leading lady, Lesley Hann sends shivers down the coldest of spines. Holding the same capability of the sharpest of knives slipping its cold blade deep within your skin, finishing its murderous intention with a poisonous embrace, symbolised within Hann's uncanny vocal resemblance to Kills front-woman, Alison Mosshart. The ominous purr throughout 'Snake Song' radiates with constant fuzz of sickly smooth guitar formations and lulling bass, refusing to move from the track's hissing ability. 

LODRO promise to embed themselves within our imaginations, providing a wickedly unstable sound, worthy of taking down generations of talent and plastering their stamp in the history books. The Music Manual grabbed an interview with Lesley Hann to find out more from behind the scenes...

How did Lodro come about?

Last winter, Jeremy, Jigmae and myself were all living in a warehouse space in Brooklyn called Market Hotel. We had all somewhat recently come out of previous bands and were just sort of struggling through the New York winter (this warehouse had no heat, among other discomforting features). We got together in the dark, in the cold and we wrote and recorded. And now, this past winter we have done essentially the same thing on a grander scale except Jigmae is no longer with the band and we have Tyler instead. Sometimes good things form on the brink of insanity.

Your sound reminds me a lot of the Cramps meets The Dead Weather, have you always had a set idea as to what sound you'd like to create?
We create what we think sounds good. And between other music, films, people and the craziness of life in general, we aren't exactly short on things to be inspired by.

You're currently in the process of recording your debut LP, how's it been going so far ?

We're almost finished and we've recorded and mixed the entire thing ourselves in our loft in Bushwick. We've all put a lot into it time-wise, physically and emotionally so I think we're all pretty disheveled at this point but it sounds amazing. It's like this winter was a giant evil storm and we're just barely escaping it together with one gleaming souvenir.

Have either of you ever been involved in any other projects?
Jeremy was in the band Royal Baths from start to finish. I was in Royal Baths briefly towards the end, and I was in the band Friends for a couple of years. Tyler has had his hand in numerous projects - most recently his band Greatest Hits.

If you could describe your sound as one word and one word only, what would you say and why?

Loud. I say loud because our album visits and incorporates a lot of different sounds. It's other things pretty consistently too, but the only word that seems fair to use as a blanket-statement is, "loud."

How do you find playing live?

I love playing live. Playing live and touring are my favorite parts of being in a band. It's frightening and empowering at once.

Do you have any obscure facts about yourselves?

There's lots of obscure facts about us but they're mostly either related to various pacts of secrecy or just really inappropriate.

Is image more important for bands today compared to the music?
It depends on what band your talking about. Music is more important to us.

Are there any unsigned artists that you're into at the moment?
I generally avoid leaving my apartment so I don't know.

If you could choose an animal to be your spirit animal, what would you choose?

Do you get to choose that? I can't speak for Jeremy or Tyler. Me - I guess I'd like to be a crow but it's probably more accurate to say I'm a rat.