Lolita Hazed ain't dead.

Hey ladies! I know I've been gone for quite awhile. I've been AWOL from almost everything since mid-February, and I'll be slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things soon. But, anywho...

Remember back in November when I told you about the McQ by Alexander McQueen collection for Target inspired by Liela Moss of my FAVORITE band The Duke Spirit, whose shit is the most underrated stuff since... olive oil? The woman I have been waiting for the rest of the world to fall in love with is totally getting into the spotlight THIS MONTH and I could not be any more pumped.
IT IS FINALLY COMING OUT THIS WEDNESDAY. I am so pumped that you don't even know and I honestly don't care how much the Liela Moss Neptune cover shirt (above) costs because I AM BUYING IT IN FIVE SECONDS FLAT. I know there's a necklace built into it, but I'm probably going to have to wear my Tatty Devine Duke Spirit necklace with it anyway to show supreme fandom because I win and you don't (just kidding, but maybe not). Grlfrnd you do NOT know how FUCKING EXCITED I AM. And OMFG THEY ARE TOTALLY RELEASING AN EXCLUSIVE COMPILATION FOR TARGET (basically a "greatest hits", what have you, plus their exclusive cover of Alex Chilton's "Baby Doll") THAT I AM BUYING.
It's going to be almost like a tiny little Christmas, but instead with an amount of red comparable to communist China (the reason why I could never work at Borders or Target).

Yeah, okay, this entry was def pretty rushed and I should go to bed,
Y Lolita Hazed

(In other news, I'm currently perfecting my spring playlist, which, spoiler alert, actually has a Duke Spirit track on there and will be up before you know it!)

Duke-Spirit-loving fashionistas REJOICE!

To say that Liela Moss has remained "under the radar" is an understatement. She and her band, The Duke Spirit, have been critically acclaimed by a very, very small audience. As a huge fan, it has gotten to me, as The Duke Spirit are much better than the shit that gets hype these days-- especially considering the magnitude of greatness that their second album, Neptune, possesses. However, since Liela has decided to fully embrace her love of fashion, she's gained the attention of a cool dude who agrees with my woes-- none other than fashion Olympian Alexander McQueen. I have been ALL OVER the idea of his line for Target and not only was his cosigning of my beloved frontwoman enough to get me excited-- he pretty much MADE the line FOR her. And he's got the girl modeling. Um, he's even got her picture from the Neptune cover on a SHIRT! A shirt that I'm BUYING!Monsieur McQueen, if this love of Liela was a marketing ploy to get me to buy your now cheaper (thank you, thank you so much) digs of high-renown, you already had me at Target. And now it looks like I'll be at the opening... on, um, THURSDAY. THIS SHIT COMES OUT ON THURSDAY. I will so be wearing that shirt with my Tatty Devine Duke Spirit necklace!!

[Picture courtesy of Highsnobette]

OMFG The Duke Spirit on Gossip Girl!

*Sigh*, I love, love, love The Duke Spirit. Hands down, they are my favorite still-unified band. I rock my Tatty Devine for The Duke Spirit necklace at school constantly and everyone who reads it just ends up confused. Then they go on and release Neptune this year and I'm totally bowing to their greatness-- but alone.
So you can imagine my surprise when on last night's Gossip Girl, Dan punching some dude in the face produces sexy guitar and hints of a familiar female wail-- I thought aloud, "OMG, did they just play The Duke Spirit?" I was pretty delighted. Then they get featured in the credits for longer than the five seconds that their song, "This Ship is Built to Last", played in the episode-- and it was a great pick. It's one of my favorites off Neptune and it's certainly one of the strongest tracks on the album. Listen below:

The Duke Spirit is not a hype-y band, for which I'm very grateful, but seriously-- these kids have so much damn talent, it's a bit offensive they're so often ignored. There's so much soul and feeling in their music-- enough to drive you through a whole bottle of whiskey. In the three years since their debut, Cuts Across the Land, was released, these five have opened for The Kills and R.E.M., guested on an UNKLE album and have had their tracks mixed by Chris Goss of Queens of the Stone Age. The Duke Spirit has gained a loyal following, and they have the potential to take over the world if they ever decide they want to.

If you haven't bought Neptune STILL, I highly suggest you do! These kids are so worth it, and it might actually be one of my favorite albums I've ever bought-- and it's only eight months old.

Sincerest Imitation: Liela Moss's gloves

Liela Moss of my favorite band, The Duke Spirit, just always looks cool. You can't really say otherwise-- especially not this year. Since before their Neptune tour, Moss has gained a lot of fashion courage, and people have noticed, namely The New York Post, who did a story on her style.

"I love Kiki de Montparnasse (for their gloves, not the cock rings)," Moss insisted in the brief-- and of course I, as a devout lingerie aficionado, felt compelled to research said gloves.

Chick's got taste-- these babies are badass. Here's the foxy pair I can most likely picture Liela sporting:

Kiki de Montparnasse driving gloves are a steep $275, but if it doesn't change your interest, you can hit them up right here.

Read the Post article and get more Duke Spirit fun here.

Albums I'm hella excited for in 2008

This whole thing will probably be added to constantly.

Annie, Don't Stop
be your own PET, Get Awkward
CSS, Donkey
The Duke Spirit, Neptune
Goldfrapp, Seventh Tree
Kid Sister, Koko B. Ware
The Kills, Midnight Boom
Lily Allen, T.B.A.
N.A.S.A., T.B.A.
Ratatat, LP3
Uffie, T.B.A.

Review: The Duke Spirit "Ex-Voto - EP"

Main Entry: ex-vo·to Pronunciation: (")eks-'vO-(")tO

Etymology: Latin ex voto according to a vow

: a votive offering

Things with religious connotations have an aura of darkness... the sadism of the Egyptians pre-Exodus, original sin, incubi/succubi, Cain & Abel... look throughout religion, and you will find a very prominent darkness. So it makes sense to think that if you hear The Duke Spirit's brand-new Ex-Voto EP and try to imagine what their forthcoming album will be like, you've got something very hazy.

While Ex-Voto is surely not a departure from the sound radiating from their debut album Cuts Across the Land, it is quite darker. The keys throughout the four songs are noticably more minor, and frontwoman Liela Moss's trademark wail seems to be getting a little shakier.

Perhaps in order to start their fans off with something familiar, the EP opens with "Lassoo", which keeps in touch with their original sound, but is perhaps a bit more epic... and oh so angry. It is what we're used to, but at the same time, a wonderful surprise. The EP transitions very nicely into the soft, melancholic "Dog Roses". Moss retains her catty observance, but this track doesn't make her sound like the seductress she usually appears as (though she is still is, of course)... she sounds innocent, ethereal, and longing...

"A Wild Hope" is synchronous with the tone of "Lassoo" (catching the listener's attention quite effectively with the declaration "I wish I tasted like a buttered angel"), and once you've hit the third track, you can see that not one of the tracks has a positive tone. Moss is singing of heartbreak, mourning the past, unrequited love, skepticism...

In the world of art, negativity is usually something to feed off of... though heartbreak is what most spectators would guess, the feelings that these songs hold are very hard to describe. Whatever it is, the powerful feeling is emitted through the music of Ex-Voto... and quite successfully.

Ex-Voto may be less than ten minutes, but if you had doubts before, this will surely have you believing in The Duke Spirit.

Click and hear for yourself.