Similar in overall sound to her acclaimed debut album, Australian singer-songwriter Alex Lahey’s sophomore effort The Best of Luck Club reflects the oh-so-familiar struggle of adult life and the bleak losses involved.
Lahey’s witty titles and themes make her songs relatable to anyone facing the troubles of life post-teens. As bluntly quoted by Lahey, “drinking champagne on a beer can budget” on her track Misery Guts, which shares its name with a classic children’s novel about a struggling teen, the track’s ironic guitar screeches almost mirror that of my own as I travel the long and winding road of adulthood. There’s no handbook for adulthood, life after your parent’s basement or any of that shit, but there is Alex Lahey’s The Best of Luck Club. Thank the music gods.
The first thing I noticed before even listening to the album is the cover, in which Lahey is found lounging across from some milk-crate furniture, providing us the familiar set of a struggling young adult’s excuse for a home.
Lahey opens the 10-track with her previously released single “I Don’t Get Invited to Parties Anymore”, featuring heavy use of subito, or sudden changes in volume and/or tempo, acting almost as a metaphor for the suddenness and quick reality of losing touch with friends from the past and longing for that lost and simpler time that Lahey so adequately personifies. “Am I Doing It Right?”, another previously released single and album sneaky-peak follows with its steady rock beat and anthem vibe. The Melbourne based muso speaks of the struggles of her job, having to move around, prove herself, and having to “stay in every cheap hotel room”, constantly asking herself if there is a right or wrong way, in the unending spiral of pros and cons.
After seeking help after a rough breakup, Lahey penned “Interior Demeanour” after reaching out for a perspective from outside of her situation and seeking the reassurance she already had within her. Girl, we’ve been there. We see you.
On a happier note- and almost a self-reaction title to her previous track- Lahey’s single “Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself” was released with a music video in February this year, with the track featuring a sax solo by none other than Lahey herself, an instrument she learnt at a young age. The track was written for her girlfriend who was fatigued and stressed on the road. We wish we had a support network behind us like that!!
Passing through single “Unspoken History” in open D Tuning to “Misery Guts”, an interesting track emerges which at first sounds like a classic love song about the perfect girl who “brings me to my knees”, but Lahey revealed to Billboard that the song is actually about a vibrator branded “Issy” and what that vibrator would be like if she was a person- “Basically, she’d be a fucking legend” as Lahey so bluntly described her. “I Need to Move On” dreams of a life after heartbreak and “waking up in a house in the suburbs with someone new coz I need to move on”. Back at it again with the relatability, Lahey takes the leap to get on with life and “getting over someone by getting under someone else”. Closing up her album are two love songs dedicated to her current girlfriend, “Black RM’s” appropriately a bit country sounding and with the country motif, it’s a wholesome dedication to her partner in only an adoring matter. Lastly, Lahey expresses her desire to live with her girlfriend in “I Want To Live With You”, written whilst her girlfriend was at work. Awwwwww.
In classic Lahey style, she keeps her iconic Aussie rock sound in hand and power to be so damn relatable, keeping her fans close to her heart and gaining more and more with each release. Staying true to her roots and herself, and always keeping it real, The Best of Luck Club is held highly as an Aussie alt-rock gem.
Advertisement
Advertisement