Indie Rock of the Summer is So Back with Lucky Me’s Debut EP “Just Left the Party”
An EP that feels like stepping into a taxi with friends after a long night out, Lucky Me’s debut project, Just Left The Party, arrives August 21 with six tracks that feel like being pulled into the band’s world for the first time. It’s their personal house party, and somehow you’ve been invited in as they wrap up a chaotic night.
Across the six tracks, Lucky Me creates a concise story that you’re being brought along for, like watching a couple stumble out of a bar together at the end of the night. There’s excitement, loneliness, insecurity, and the inevitable moment when the noise dies down, and you’re left alone with your thoughts. Even when the record is having fun, there’s something underneath it that feels a little more vulnerable.
The band completed the recording process in Joshua Tree, and that setting feels fitting for a project so interested in what happens when the party ends. There’s something naturally expansive about the EP’s sound, even when the songs remain intimate, allowing the record to feel like it is moving through different rooms of the same night.
“Midnight” opens with the perfect amount of electric guitar mixed with a drum beat that you can’t get enough of, immediately pulling you in. There’s a feeling of being carried toward something you know might not be good for you, like waves pulling the singer toward love despite the loneliness and insecurity that lingers underneath.
While featuring a layer of yearning beneath the upbeat sounds, detailing what it feels like to leave an environment that should have been filled with good memories. Now, you’re left to think about the fallout in light of no longer being surrounded by the noise. The party is over, the lights are coming on, and suddenly there’s nowhere left to hide from yourself.
Despite the speaker of the record feeling kind of detached from who they are, it pulls you directly into that feeling. It’s pure fun while being about losing yourself in the decisions you make, even when you’re not entirely sure who you are making them for.
A true gem on the record is the third track, “Remind You,” with held-out vocals that fry and a pace that steadies. It’s a reminder of finding your rhythm in another person, with the track opening the EP up into something even more inviting. There’s a really amazing beat here that immediately makes you want to listen to it while going out and having fun with your friends, while still carrying that vulnerability that comes with getting a little bit in your head despite having business around you.
Fans of The Strokes and The Killers will roll with this record. It kind of feels like Tumblr kids got a resurgence of being able to listen to Arctic Monkeys when they were in their prime, when AM and “505” were everywhere. This would have done numbers, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
That’s ultimately what makes Just Left The Party work so well. It knows how to be fun without pretending that fun means everything is fine. There’s something deliciously messy about the way Lucky Me lets these songs exist between confidence and self-doubt, between being surrounded by people and feeling completely alone.
The last track on the EP really highlights this vulnerability on a sonic level that the rest of the record is kind of partying with. It’s a much more imperfect sound in the best way, almost feeling like a demo, but that only fits how much self-deprecation the singer is sharing. Rather than polishing away those rougher edges, Lucky Me lets them remain.
By the time Just Left The Party ends, it feels less like you’ve listened to six separate songs and more like you’ve spent one long night with a group of people you’re just beginning to know, and yet you’re stringing a long history together in pieces. Suddenly the music is gone. You’re left alone with everything the party was attempting to drown out, just like the group you’ll feel you’ve met.
Given that the band has been able to create something so special and cohesive, I truly look forward to what they're able to do moving forward. Even though this EP is a debut, they clearly have been able to find their footing as a group and bring a distinctness that won't be soon forgotten when they're piecing together a story for the listener to enjoy.
Allowing for vulnerability to take the stage without over-explaining it easily allows you to place yourself within the moment. All of a sudden, you're picturing the times that you wished you felt these connections with the people that you loved, or the shots that you didn't take on a night out that you wish you had, but you can celebrate it all anyway.
The record is a return to indie rock of the early 2010s and one that couldn't be more welcome.
