LANY just came out with their third studio album this month, mama’s boy, and the only word I can use to describe how I feel about it is disappointment. Their first two albums and the EP’s they’ve released all had songs that I would add to playlists and frequently have on repeat. I saw them live in 2019 and was really impressed by their show and had a great time singing along to the songs I loved.
The lead single off mama’s boy, “good guys,” came out in May 2020 and focuses on the notion of “good guys never win.” The narrator has a love interest who he won’t show too much interest in or be affectionate with, ultimately sending mixed signals. He’s afraid of the rejection, so he keeps his feelings to himself. I personally don’t agree with this motto and find it immature, so this song made me so angry and ruined any excitement I had for the album.
Flash forward to October and mama’s boy simply did not do it for me. After giving the album a listen through, it feels as though the general theme of it is unhealthy relationships, loving a girl who doesn’t love you back, and being a southern gentleman. A lot of the songs really left a bad taste in my mouth. On top of that, most of the songs sounded exactly the same. They all shared a common, acoustic synth beat that had no defining characteristics. The lyrics were repetitive as well, and I really was looking forward to most of them ending.
“cowboy in LA,” touches on the lead singer’s, Paul Klein, roots of being raised in Oklahoma, and then moving to Los Angeles. The song alludes to having the “southern gentleman charm” in a place usually based around materialism. The song is him trying to express how he’s not like the other guys and he knows how to treat a girl right- another song leaving me angry and rolling my eyes. “bad news” opens up with him saying how he’s going to get the girl’s mom to love him and her dad to hate him- interesting. It continues on with him saying he’s going to treat her right, but at the end of the day they can’t be together because he’s bad news. Why did he just sing all these songs about being a southern gentleman, and then switch it to him being a bad boy? It simply doesn’t make sense. “sharing you” focuses on him being jealous because the girl who he isn’t in a relationship with is talking to other guys, even though they aren’t together. He wants to give all his time and energy to her, but she doesn’t necessarily want that. Two words: honesty and communication.
This album really provokes a lot of anger within me because it all just seems so immature. If you like someone, then tell them. It’s easier said than done, but if you’re talking to someone and want to take it further and become official, express that. It saves both parties so much time and they aren’t left wondering what the other person is thinking.
“sad” was an alright song. It had a different beat than the rest which is a reason I think I can recall it. It talks about life after a breakup and watching the person you love start dating someone else. The narrator knows their ex no longer cares about them, but they will still do anything to try and get some reaction out of them. Not healthy by any means, but I understand it.
Overall, I think it’s obvious I will not be listening to this album again anytime soon, but I’m not going to tell someone not to listen to it. I believe you should give an album or song at least one chance. Some songs on the album that I do enjoy are “Made in Hollywood,” “The Breakup,” “It Was Love,” “Super Far,” and “Thru These Tears.”
Rating: 3/10
Favorites: “sad” and “anything 4 u”
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