LOLA RAY - "LIARS" The summer of 2005 was sweltering and humid in Brooklyn, New York. It was here that Lola Ray set about to write their new record "Liars" as rooftop parties and barbecues welcomed the boys back from that endless goodbye that is touring. Girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, future girlfriends, acquaintances, and friends crowded around them. The band struggled for isolation and focus but somehow these people drifted into and out of the new songs and material. They became the record "Liars."
Lola Ray has a back story, though, that trnscends this summer and this neighborhood. john Balicanta (singer/guitar), Bria Spina (guitar) and James McIvor (bass) have all been friends since the seventh grade. They grew up together in Southern California where they played in a band until high school ended and they went their seperate ways for college. John moved to New York to attend NYU and began to develop his songwriting. He took his solo work to a New York studio and soon I Don't know You," this debut record from Lola Ray was born. John found Alex Smolinski, a New York drummer with tons of touring experience and soon James and Brian moved out to New York to round out Lola Ray. The band was quickly signed to DC Flag, a small imprint of Epic Records, on the strength of "I Don't Know You." Once signed, the band took to th road and began a long string of tours, opening for Good Charlotte, The Killers, Sum 41, Jet, Hawthorne Heights and Phantom Planet. Around this time, Lola Ray were also featured on MTV's "Advance Warning," and were also in rotation on the FUSE network with the video for their first single "Automatic Girl."
While driving across the country in their van, each band member's turn with the CD player had given the boys a chance to showcase their favorite bands and records for each other. John played Bloc Party and Blonde Redhead while Brian listened to classic Motown and The Beach Boys. James played The Cure and The Jam as Alex listened to Snow Patrol and guided By Voices. Lola Ray's new material, which would form what was essentially their debut record as a band, allowed for the individual members to show off some of these influences. Their new songs were concise and accessible while still being ambitious. Lyrically, John began to write about his flaws the way others might write about a lover, they are his blanket and his solace and ultimately his strength. His lyrics addressed the struggles of living life within the incestuous social circle of friends and lovers that the band was caught up in at the time. "Liars" is the sound of rooftop parties and lonely social circles, of Caalifornia optimism challenged by crippling east coast cynicism, and of living life with one foot dangling in adulthood and the other in adolescence.
