La Roux

"Bulletproof"

by K. Ross Hoffman

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Published: Jul 27, 2010

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NOTE: La Roux's show at the Trocadero, originally scheduled for Thu., July 29, has been postponed until Tue., Nov. 29.

La Roux sure do lead a thrilling, treacherous life. Or so the titles of their singles would have you believe: The well-coiffed dance-pop duo debuted with "Quicksand" and assailed the U.K. charts with the ferocious "In for the Kill." Even if it's all metaphorical (yeah, they're pretty much just love songs), there's enough real menace and fierceness in their tracks for the violent conceits to hit home. Nowhere is that more true than on "Bulletproof," their finest achievement and the most urgent, insistent, utterly invincible sliver of synth-pop from the past decade of unabashed retro-wonkery. Call it an '80s-retread if you must; you can't shoot it down. Ben Langmaid's gritty keyboards pierce like tiny neon shards, and Elly Jackson's spitfire vocal delivery (she of the Tilda Swinton-esque androgyny and opinionated, dubiously reasoned public statements) offer nothing but glisteningly sharp edges. That is, until the song's gleaming chorus — the sort that's simply one line repeated four times, because that's all it needs to be. "This time I'll be bulletproof," Jackson wails, betraying the slightest hint of vulnerability. More likely, we're the ones who need protection.

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