There’s a lot of pro and con to be found in the Twitterlitter regarding new-ish artist, Lana Del Rey, who hails originally from Lake Placid, NY (now Brooklyn, natch).  Given the songs (Video Games and Blue Jeans, both to be released on Stranger Records in October) and videos below, we can’t connect to the con.  The songs impart an elegiac and moving melancholia, all immersed in a nostalgic haze.  And the videos cinematically convey a vivid adolescence (Lefort, circa 3.0), via a Belmondo, Dogtown, Sunset Strip pastiche (despite her Lake Placid upbringing).  We could do with less film spent on a vamping Del Rey, but for now we’re pronouncing an overall pro.

Lana Del Rey plays the Hotel Cafe on 9/27, but the show sold out quickly.  If you can get us in, we’ll be your best friends.  No other shows west of NYC are currently scheduled.

First up is Video Games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO1OV5B_JDw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Also to be released soon is the song Blue Jeans, after the lyrics.

“BLUE JEANS
WHITE SHIRT
WALKED INTO THE ROOM U KNOW U MADE MY EYES BURN
IT WAS LIKE, JAMES DEAN- FOR SURE
U SO FRESH TO DEATH & SICK AS CA-CANCER
YOU WERE SORTA PUNK ROCK, I GREW UP ON HIP HOP
BUT U FIT ME BETER THAN MY FAVOURITE SWEATER- AND I KNOW
THAT LUV IS MEAN, AND LUV HURTS
BUT I STILL REMEMBER THAT DAY WE MET IN DECEMBER- OH BABY!
*
I WILL LUV U TILL THE END OF TIME
I WOULD WAIT 1,000,000 YEARS
PROMISE U’LL REMEMBER THAT UR MINE
BABY CAN U SEE THROUGH THE TEARS
LUV U MORE
THAN THOSE BITCHES BEFORE
SAY U’LL REMEMBER -OH BABY- SAY U’LL REMEMBER
I WILL LUV U TILL THE END OF TIME
*
BIG DREAMS
GANGSTER
SAID U HAD TO LEAVE TO START UR LIFE OVER
I WAS LIKE- “NO PLEASE” STAY HERE
WE DON’T NEED NO MONEY WE CAN MAKE IT ALL WORK
BUT HE HEADED OUT ON MONDAY, SAID HE’D COME HOME SUNDAY
I STAYED UP WAITIN’, ANTICIPATIN’ AND PACIN’ BUT HE WAS
CHASING PAPER
CAUGHT UP IN THE GAME-THAT WAS THE LAST I HEARD
*
CHORUS
*
HE WENT OUT EVERY NIGHT
AND BABY THAT’S ALRIGHT
I TOLD U THAT NO MATTER WHAT U DID I’D BE BY YOUR SIDE
CAUSE IM A RIDE OR DIE
WHETHER U FAIL OR FLY
WELL SHIT @ LEAST U TRIED.
BUT WHEN U WALKED OUT THAT DOOR- A PIECE OF ME DIED
I TOLD U I WANTED MORE-BUT THAT NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND
I JUST WANT IT LIKE BEFORE
WE WERE DANCIN ALL NIGHT
THEN THEY TOOK U AWAY-STOLE U OUT OF MY LIFE
U JUST NEED TO REMEMBER….
THAT I WILL LUV U TILL THE END OF TIME
i promise”

We particularly liked her answer to a question posed by Pitchfork recently in an interview:

“Pitchfork: You started singing in a church choir– do you think your church would approve of some of the lyrics on “Kinda Outta Luck” like the one about hitting dudes in the back of the head with a gun?

LDR: God has saved me a million times so I think he must’ve enjoyed that song.”

And with that, you might as well check out the bouncy, Blondie-esque Kinda Outta Luck below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gg8pZYjCTM&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL