Bedroom pop cult favorite girlhouse is giving us yet another taste of her long awaited sophomore EP—appropriately tiled “The Second EP”—in her newest song, “Concussion”.
“Concussion is about a monumentally shit day. My first and favorite car got smashed,” Lauren Luiz of girlhouse writes. “Next thing I knew I was lying on the ground, being harassed by LA firemen while a woman was screaming at me calling me a dumb bitch...all I could think about was this person that had just broken my heart. Somehow nothing else mattered.”
The visual of the car accident is so vivid in my mind’s eye— it perfectly captures the image of chaos ensuing around you as you lie on the ground, so stuck in your own head, not fully processing what’s going on. Everything around you is blurred and slowed, almost like it’s not happening at all.
“Concussion” sounds like finally resigning to madness, in an almost “yeah, this might as well happen” sort of way, with the simple, humorous, and undeniably catchy “dum dum… dum dum de dum” after the chorus. In fact, this song is filled with catchy little hooks that should feel out of place given the song’s subject matter, but instead fit right in. The self-awareness needed to pull off such a feat is dizzying, but is noticeable in every corner of the song from its dreamy melody to the clever stream-of-consciousness-style lyricism.
Sonically, “Concussion” strays away from her signature sound, which I would describe as y2k pop with an alternative edge. Here, she ventures further down the alternative path, with a twinge of shoegaze influence bubbling beneath the surface. If shoegaze isn’t your thing, don’t be misconstrued— she’s still just as hook-driven as her previous work!
All in all, this song is a masterclass in creating a scene and putting the listener in the middle of it all, as well as showcasing Luiz’s desire to grow and explore more as an artist.
Lauren Luiz is no stranger to show business. She began her acting career in her early twenties in NBC’s hit series Grimm, following her heart shortly after to Los Angeles in 2013 where she landed a role in Spring Awakening. Such an experience brought her to The White House, Broadway, and even The Seth Meyers Show. She later went on to form folk-pop group WILD, which garnered over 50 million streams. Now, she’s channeling her musical creativity in new ways under “girlhouse,” and her second EP is expected to drop October 1st, 2021
Written by Jess Ward