Alter Ego

I’ll never forget the scene in Spinal Tap when David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel reveal the dark, godless force of Stonehenge.  It stirred a deep, spiritual connection to a world of sinful fantasy, dark power, and glorious hell.  In this extravagant world of spontaneously combusting drummers, one can feel a totally different kind of freedom.  This the world I think in which Lana Laro must have been born.

Who is Lana Laro?  The simple answer is that they are a side-project of bassist Devin Hannan and long-time band friend Geoff Primeau (aka front man Johnny Wang), who wrote two albums worth of songs, all from the wrong side of the tracks.  But Lana Laro could quite well be much more- a possible Yang to Lickpenny Loafer’s comparatively understated Yin.

With Devin (Colobrious Hammerstein) switching to the role of Satriani-inspired shred guitar, and Arunachal (Stanley “Skinz” Upwood) exploring painfully loud and ultra-traditional rhythms on the drums, Lana Laro might well be Lickpenny Loafer’s alter-ego…the Gollum inside our Smeagel.  With frontman Johnny Wang leading the way with his “No Holds Barred, and No Sensitive Subject Matter Left Unoffended” approach, the band serves up a promising mixture of audacity, insobordination, and punishment.  Add ex-bandmate and notorius Windsor bassist Matt Daviau (Mercutio Skidavarious) to the fold, and the circle is complete.

On April 1, 2006, Lana Laro will play its first and possible only show ever.  On April 1, 2006, the demons will come back to Earth one last to reminisce about the glory days.  On April 1, 2006, the world will experience sonic Armegeddon, if only for one more day.

Lana Laro is about rockin’ out- F’n A.  It’s about not giving a S—.  It’s about driving on a Highway to Hell, and growing bigger horns at every pit stop.  It’s about letting everyone know that Hades is still around, and he’s sick of our cultural revolution.  It’s about sticking a guitar (real or air) in your hands and turning the volume up to 11, when everyone else around can’t go higher than 10.  Lana Laro is about preserving the true essence of Rock n’ Roll- something none of these pansy, artsy-fartsy, progressive, new-age, self-important, I-don’t-know-what-a-distortion-pedal-sounds-like “artists” would know about.  Which is why Lana Laro was probably born in the world of Stonehenge- the most dark, fantastic, mysterious, and spiritually powerful rock in the world.