La Roux - "In For The Kill"

People are saying this will be the year for La Roux. Which, more astutely was referred to by the BBC as, "it looks like everyone is doubling down on electro for 2009." Where is music headed? We don't know much but we're operating on one truth: indie music is dead, the only question is, what will its funeral sound like? It could sound like La Roux's "In For The Kill." A song, that if not for slightly fuzzed out vocals and a more aggressive synth-line, could have appeared on Lily Allen's first record. Ouch. True story.

And this is not to imply that Lily Allen killed indie rock. That would be both too much credit and not enough. And it isn't that La Roux is making the same glossy, international pop as people like Duffy and Lily, but there's something about all this music that's just so inoffensive. It doesn't challenge anyone and frankly, Duran Duran have to be asking themselves why they ever became unfamous. If this is where things were going to end up, why bother with hair-metal, grunge-rock, modern alternative, rap rock, lo-fi, rock revival, and indie garbage? Why go through phases at all? Why didn't music just stop at Depeche Mode's Violator? We already had a policy of truth. We didn't need to go anywhere to get here.

That being said, La Roux's "In For The Kill" is about as fun as wrecking an expensive car. Hopefully you don't have too much invested and it's better if you do it when no one is looking. The car is full of airbags and, frankly, you're sturdy as hell. You won't get hurt. But hopefully no one saw it happen. So you scratch out the VIN number, remove your personal effects, unscrew the license plates and walk down the side of the highway. It was a little embarrassing and a little awesome. But it's best we all just forget it ever happened.

Listen :: La Roux - "In For The Kill"
Bonus :: La Roux - "Quicksand"