Las Vegas Weekly

One Loud Secret, one great cover

One Loud Secret performs at the Bunkhouse.

Photo: April Corbin

Picking a good song to cover can be an important tool for local bands. It can highlight their musical influences or showcase a flair for reinvention; all while helping unknown bands connect with their audience by using songs they already know and love.

One Loud Secret does this well. During their live show, they perform two covers: Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” and The Outfield’s “Your Love.” Never mind the juxtaposition of a feel-good feminist anthem with a song about cheating on your girlfriend, One Loud Secret’s take on these two karaoke classics is bouncy, energetic and, simply put, a helluva good time. It’s a good match for the power-pop band’s original tunes, which are also high-energy, catchy and backed by screaming vocals.

What lead singer Leilani “Lei D.” Dibble lacks in formal vocal training (she’s only been singing for a year), she makes up for in quirky charm and stage presence. Likewise, her three bandmates don’t take their music too seriously. “We’re really just amusing ourselves,” guitarist Jeremy Price says.

Dibble thinks the carefree aura may have something to do with the fact that they are all dancers, drummers or percussionists by trade; Price and Dibble met while touring with Stomp. “I think it influences how we play and what we play,” Dibble says. “We approach music differently, because we’re all newer to our instruments than drums. We don’t have preconceived notions or bad habits.”

Whatever the reason, we think it works. Check out their recorded version of “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” Unfortunately, the band hasn’t recorded The Outfield’s song. “I wish we had,” says Price.

We do, too.