Lissy Trullie: ‘Self-Taught Learner' EP

Former model Lissy Trullie now finds herself fronting a four piece rock band, whose sound could be summed up with the same words you might use to evaluate a picture of its eponymous singer: trendy, but vacuous, and stylish, but boring.

This six-track debut EP comes clad in a titillating and ennui-soaked cover reminiscent of the artwork for The Strokes’ breakthrough album ‘Is This It’. Hailing as she does from New York, perhaps it’s no surprise that Trullie’s band sound a lot like The Strokes too, and that her thin, reedy vocals make her come across as the bratty little sister of Julian Casablancas.

Opening song ‘Boy Boy’ begins with a regulation drum ’n’ strum intro that quickly deteriorates into a horribly mushy chorus, whilst Trullie herself makes some slightly embarrassing attempts to sound all grown-up (“I’ll take your sloppy seconds or… whatever… man”). By the time the title track has come and gone largely without incident, it becomes clear that Lissy isn’t one to bother with the frippery of adding song-writing substance to her undoubted style.

The trouble here is a complete lack of inspiration: Trullie fails to do anything other than take the U.S. garage rock template, so beloved of a thousand other mediocre plectrum-wielders, and then sprinkle in a few incongruent concessions to the current fad for swashes of tinny keyboard. Perhaps she thinks that this will be enough to see her through. But it won’t, Lissy: it really won’t.

Lissy Trullie certainly has the look of a star, and her band’s angular guitar sound is in keeping with the air of angst-ridden cool she tries to project. Unfortunately, she can’t sing and she probably wouldn’t know how to write a tune if you somehow transplanted Paul McCartney’s brain into her head and gave her Brian Wilson’s notebook for a crib sheet. Dull.



Released on 29th June 2009 by Wichita Recordings.

Written by Ben Griffiths.