Wolf Alice – Moaning Lisa Smile
I discovered this song recently on Conan, it is the first single off of the debut album of London-based rock band Wolf Alice. This song sounds like it could have come out in the early 1990’s, championing roughly the same sonic palette as Pearl Jam’s Ten and Nirvana’s Nevermind: distorted grunge rock.
A little known fact about this song in particular is that it’s actually about Lisa Simpson, and not the Mona Lisa. Lead singer Ellie Rowsell said “We wanted to write about what Lisa Simpson might be feeling when she was 18.” The sixth episode of The Simpsons, which aired in February 1990 (which is approximately when this song sounds like it’s from) is also titled Moaning Lisa. The episode is about Lisa contending with depression and find an outlet in music, specifically the saxophone, and features a guest appearance from Ron Taylor (Twin Peaks) who plays recurring character Bleeding Gums Murphy.