Kevin Bronson on February 16th, 2019

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La Bouquet — the L.A. trio of Bryan Sammis (the original drummer in the Neighbourhood), Jake Lopez and Drew Bruchs — have announced that their debut full-length, “Sad People Dancing,” will be out on March 29. With the news comes the release of the title track, which is just as its title suggests: emo and the ’80s on a date to see a disco soul singer.

“Obviously, there’s an ’80s influence, but there’s also a big R&B influence,” Sammis says. “At the same time, we also come from that punk ethos. We don’t want everything to sound too perfect. We just want every note to evoke some sort of emotion.”

The band started with Sammis and Lopez collaborating in 2016 on the arching single “Loveless,” a modest radio hit that should have been a bigger radio hit. On 2017’s “Heavy Sunshine” EP and its acoustic companion that followed last spring, La Bouquet proved they could ooze drama and melancholy with the most sentimental of ’em. Sammis plays the forlorn outsider in “Sad People Dancing,” confessing over the light sting of electric guitar, “It’s just like standing in the rain without you / It’s just like watching a party from the other room.”

||| Stream: “Sad People Dancing”

||| Live: La Bouquet play the Constellation Room on Feb. 21, along with the Millennial Club and Your Favorite Color. Tickets. La Bouquet also plays the Hi Hat on April 4. Tickets.

||| Previously: “Kiss Me, Kill Me,” live at Tarfest, “Loser Baby,” “Loveless”