/Rock-Pop/American

TRULLIE, LISSY
self taught learner

Release Date: 08/06/2009

a native of washington, dc and now calling new york city home lissy trullie is both the name of the front woman and the band she sings in. lissy's love of music began at an early age and was perhaps cemented when she was taken to operation ivy gigs as a kid. having made some serious waves at this year's sxsw festival, lissy releases the 'self-taught learner' ep that well and truly shows she has the songs to back the hype and walk the walk with some style.
in a year being characterised by female fronted electro-pop (with more than a passing eye on the 1980s), lissy stands out from the crowd with timeless, fuzzy guitar pop that evokes the sound of new-wave, new york in the late '70s and early '80s and has seen her compared to such artists as chrissie hynde, blondie and television. what also makes lissy stand out is her unique voice: a rich tenor with a distinct drawl, lissy's voice is a remarkably arresting instrument and her vocal styling add another dimension to the songs. the band is knitted together by the water tight rhythm section of josh elrod%u2019s drumming, ian fenger's melodic bass lines and lissy's stabs of rhythm guitar, with lead guitarist eben d'amico providing the flourishes. tracks like 'boy boy', 'she said' and 'money' are all nuggets of spiky, new wave brilliance, but it's the ep's title track that really marks lissy out as a song writer par excellence. at the two minute mark 'self-taught learner' makes a quite extraordinary turn, breaking into a rousing two minute crescendo of piano and motown bass with lissy repeating the lyric "oh, i want to die with you". when the band play the song live, it's a real raised hairs on the back of your neck moment. the ep closes with the band's much revered cover of hot chip's 'ready for the floor', with lissy's voice sounding at its most beautiful and adding new layers of warmth to the track. on wichita.