Brian Bird | July 19, 2014

In fact, many of the network honchos saw the show as a combination of a coming out party/coronation for her most assured rise as the queen of pop music.

 

But then the should-have-been-a flash-in-the-pan Madonna rolled around and humped the stage floor in a wedding dress. The ignorant and unwashed masses, awestruck with her amazing talents, rushed to put her on a pedestal where she remained for the better part of two decades. I'm not saying that Cyndi Lauper was not celebrated and lauded for her talents, but I am saying that in a world that awarded people in accordance to their true merits, the theme song from “The Goonies” would be the national anthem in at least 14 countries, and Madonna would be giving hand jobs to diabetic truckers at a weigh station in New Jersey.

 

Now, like any truly superb and modern artist, K. Flay's work transcends any of the convenient labels that people like me want to attach to a particular musician's style. In fact, there are so many different elements in play, that a descriptive title would probably be longer than most standard-length album reviews. And it should be noted that even though she is most often labeled AND self identifies as a rap artist, she actually came into hip hop as a goof during her freshman year in college. She spent a single night writing a rap parody she named “Blingity Blang Blang” to lampoon what she saw as the ignorant and misogynistic rap songs that were popular at the time. She even poked fun at herself for being a rapper by titling her debut mixtape Suburban Rap Queen. But as I've said, she is so much more than just a rapper. She is clearly a poet, a philosopher, and a gifted storyteller. She can play the drums and guitar, and I'm absolutely positive that she circuit bends her keyboards. Her indie “maker” cred is solid, as she has self released her latest album Life As A Dog… all of this while being a part of this year's Warped Tour.

 

Life As A Dog “reads” as much like a melancholy story or a inward-looking meditation as a musical recording. This is due in no small part to some fantastic threads and themes that course throughout each of the 11 tracks. Much like how the poet E.E. Cummings used capitalization and punctuation in order to highlight important words, Miss Flay uses tone of voice and clarity of speech to make sure you hear and comprehend the most important lyrics. Seriously, it's very noticeable and super effective in grabbing your attention. The song is playing along and then woosh, the backing instrumentals almost or completely drop out. She lets go of any extra stank she was putting on her tone and she simply sings in her sweet, breathy voice. Just imagine Elizabeth Banks singing you a lullaby, and you have the concept. Only thing is, none of K.'s lines sound like anything from a lullaby. Unless of course, your baby is a sad and confused high-functioning alcoholic with possible addiction issues to cocaine, pills, and perhaps heroin. It's really quite brilliant. K. Flay has successfully merged the powerful and dramatic verbal weight of Kathleen Hanna circa Bikini Kill with the poppy, electronic sound of Kathleen Hanna circa Le Tigre.

 

She kills it on so many levels with the first track “Everyone I Know,” which more so than any other song is a wonderfully deep and meaningful poem, and it just so happens is set to a very catchy tune. Sonically, she carries the load during the first half with her lilting vocals that are backed by just a simple bass riff and some sparse drums. The background doesn't really come into play until the halfway point when I start to imagine her jumping up and down on stage to the beat. And the followup, “Make Me Fade,” is a perfect continuation or B-Side. The instrumentals fade in very organically, just how they faded out previously. The lyrics have the same gravity as in “Everyone I Know.” I'm not sure if it was intentional, but the way she repeats the line “You make me fade/ You make me fade” is really hard to tell, (until the final line), if that is indeed what she is saying, or if the line is “ you make me fake” or even “make me thank you.” It is astoundingly clever and I loved it.

 

If I were picking a favorite song based solely on lyrics it would have to be “Wishing It Was You.” As a man, I never knew the disastrous and mind shattering results that being friendzoned had on women. Holy shit, it must be brutal. It is a very spartan song for the most part and even when it picks up fuzz towards the end, she makes sure that any background noise drops out in time for her to repeat the most important line of the song “sucking on a bottle of Jim Beam/ Wishing it was you.” I guess the 15 times she said it during the song wasn't enough, she bloody well needed us to comprehend her suffering.

 

Now if I were asked to pick a diamond out of the pile of rubies that are Life As A Dog I would have to say it was “Bad Things.” Its words still contain more grit than an old dirt road but just based on the backing track, it's a goddamn dance song. When I heard the opening of “Bad Things” for the first time, I immediately thought that I'd sat on my remote and had started the next episode of Samurai Champloo. Really. It's that catchy. And her words, her tragically beautiful words. “Stripped down and coked up” and “My money goes to the darkest places.”

 

What hell hole, rape dungeon were you raised in? Oh. The suburbs of southern Chicago? Okay. So all your demons must be internal. That actually does make a lot of sense AND sorta validates Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as well. If you have not figured it out by now, the other theme that ties her story together is the use of drugs and alcohol to deal with personal pain and loss. It does not seem to be important if the source is from unrequited love, abusive love, loss of a loved one (believe you me, she covers them all). Or even if it’s just the wear and tear put on a cognizant person in our day to day lives on this shitty planet full of shitty people. Things may suck, but at least there are chemicals to help me deal.

 

For fun, I listened for statements that could be considered moments of clarity and self awareness. Almost every song has at least one. She even makes sure to throw in allusions to real love, true friends, and God, but the pain, booze, and meds are always just around the corner and in the next song. Life As A Dog is a true tour de force and if K. Flay's creative powers are fuelled by pain, drugs, and alcohol then I hope her glass of bourbon is never empty and that her medicine cabinet is always fully stocked. I don't want her to die or anything, and at least she won’t join the 27 club, but I just want the universe to do the right thing this time around. I want so very much to see K. Flay transition from Warped Tour to headlining her own tour and having number one hits, while Iggy Azalea is giving handjobs to diabetic truckers in Australia.

 

As I stated earlier, K. Flay is currently on the Warped tour, you can buy Life As A Dog as a digital download, on a cd, or on a proper LP on her website.