Ears Wide Open: Girlhouse

Kevin Bronson on December 16th, 2021

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Portland native Lauren Luiz sang her way into the consciousness of L.A. (and beyond) as a member of the euphoric folk-pop trio WILD. But 2021 has seen her branch out under the guise Girlhouse.

Girlhouse has released not one but two EPs this year, the music ranging from dreamy modern pop to gritty indie-rock, razor-sharp lyrically and rich melodically. It brings to mind artists such as Phoebe Bridgers, Soccer Mommy, Talker, Rosie Tucker and Snail Mail.

The highlights of the second EP include the single “Concussion,” recorded in Highland Park with Casey Chen (aka Tyzo Bloom), a pop offering that Luiz says “is about a monumentally shit day.” She explains: “My first and favorite car got smashed (it was a bright orange ’81 Honda Civic with a stick shift), next thing I knew I was lying on the ground, being harassed by L.A. firemen while a woman was screaming at me calling me a dumb bitch. I just have no idea what happened, all I could think about was this person that had just broken my heart, somehow nothing else mattered. I think I used that relationship as a distraction in a big way, it was that moment where I realized that person was taking up a lot of mental real estate and I needed to make room for actual problems in my life and move on.”

Of the cathartic “Happy Now,” she says the song “started as an angry poem towards someone in my life that was really emotionally challenging to me, but … I realized I was projecting everything I hated about myself towards this other person. ‘happy now’ is my heart, Gladiator screaming “are you not entertained?!” to my body after doing all the things and following all the people that should, in theory, make me happy but in the end left me feeling empty.”

Much of the first EP — start with “Pretty Girl in LA” and “Knuckle Tattoo” — will ring familiar to some who’ve migrated to Los Angeles from distant places. “This EP follows my story of landing in L.A. and finding out exactly how ignorant I was to the real world, whether that be relationships, men in general, career, sex, friendships or battling mental illness and dealing with trauma, it all felt new to me.”

“Boundary Issues” is Girlhouse’s latest video, directed by Jon J. Lee.

||| Watch: The videos for “Boundary Issues” and “Concussion”