What happened to LUSH?

DESIRE LINES

oh man...

I found Lovelife for a dollar the other day, it's pretty rad. Very chipper for what appears to be a concept album about breaking up.

I've reintroduced Spooky into my rotation in the last month or so. Somehow, before, my attention had always drifted off by the time the album reached "Monochrome." So I was listening on shuffle the other day and that song came up and absolutely wiped me out; the choruses in particular and the bridge at about 2:15 are Lush at their melancholy best.

I'm really happy about my poor listening habits way back when, because now I get a new favorite song without having to buy another record. It's the small victories.

spooky is the only lush disc i've never heard in full. i don't know why people are so keen to work with robin guthrie as a producer when he clearly isn't terribly good at it.

"For Love" > "Sweetness and Light"

Hmmm ... I've never been one to really pay too much attention to production, but I don't notice any thing overtly bad about Spooky. I mean, it sounds pretty damn good to my ears.

A quick scan looks like all their records were produced by him, except for Lovelife.

I miss Lush.

Early singles are obviously terrific, but Split is easily their best full-length - and one of my favorite records period.

(to elaborate on that) Split straddles the middle ground between Spooky and Lovelife and combines the strengths of both: buzzy power-pop & Cocteau/shoegaze dreaminess, whereas the other two LPs lean a bit too far in either direction.

ah but Split transcends the sum of its parts no? I'm with you in saying its one of my favourite records ever.

pillbox sort of otm, but to me those slow tracks in the last 2/3rds of split kind of kill its momentum. "lovelife" is my favorite lush song, though, and "kiss chase" might be #2

this was my favorite band in high school. it's been too long. those guitars + miki and emma's voices together was such a rush..

Winston, I'll give you "Never-Never" on you observation (though I still really like that song, I can see how it would drag for others), but if you're referring to "Desire Lines" or "When I Die," you're nuts.

oh no i loooove "when i die"! "desire lines" i would probably be more ok with if it didn't follow "lovelife" (let alone the previous 4 tracks)

You know, my mate put on "Spooky" one evening and I really liked it until I found out it was the same band that recorded "Single Girl".

you're weird

At some shows during Lollapalooza '92, Miki and Emma would join Ministry onstage when they played "Supernaut". I always thought that was pretty cool. I can't imagine the boys from the Jesus and Mary Chain doing the same thing.

The latest from Miki

Thanks for that, Jack.

for some reason, that interview made me sad.

i saw miki throwing herself at some kid younger than i was at a black box recorder show in the camden underworld in 2000. she was sideways and her skin was grotesque. goodbye teenage lust...

that said, i'll still support a good chunk of gala, spooky, and split. i haven't hear lovelife in ages, but recall being pretty fond of the silly duet with jarvis cocker. thnking of "ladykiller" now, i'm guessing it would play out much like songs from blur's the great escape. cute and fun, but sounds from a world i cannot imagine having been excited in.

she was sideways

What does that mean?

Anyway, Lush wasalways one of the few shoegaze bands that never did it for me. I spent a lot of time with 'Spooky' when it came out but it always sounded so lifeless and tinny.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6075/1290/320/lush_mikigameboy.jpg

she was rather tipsy...err, entirely hammered...practically falling down..dean martin sort of routine..

Lush sounds nice and moody still, but it reminds me of watching 120 Minutes in 1992 ... the production is very much of its time. To me, Telescopes - Flying begins and ends this whole "shoegzing'" thing.

To me, Telescopes - Flying begins and ends this whole "shoegzing'" thing. - yeah, the genre sure could have used more banjo pickin'

No problem, Alex.

Now I'm imagining Miki as totally hammered in that gameboy pic. lol

xpost

that is the greatest photo

It is incredingbly hard to find even "Lovelife" these days, not to say any of the earlier albums.

news just in from 4ad, following a totally made-up email i sent saying "are the rumours of a raft of Lush repackages/re-releases this year correct?":

"someone is either a psychic or shagging the band. All is to be discussed next Monday with Emma and Miki, but yes, it's on the cards..."

nb. i am neither psychic nor shagging the band. just teh clevah.

AWESOME.

I think I have pretty much everything they ever released! So probably not going to bother with deluxe reissues, but still good that they're coming out.

i would be interested in any unreleased (not live) material from the pre-spooky period

Is there any, that you know? Demos etc?

i know that there was a demo of stuff floating about before they signed to 4ad, though i don't know how much/if any of it ended up on the first ep..

I found out relatively recently that Miki & Emma did a fanzine about bands like Lack Of Knowledge before they formed Lush. I guess that explains the Zounds cover!

I wonder if they recorded anything when whatserface from Pale Saints was in the band.

it's all about "Scarlet" (if I've got the right song...)

-- Paul, Tuesday, August 13, 2002 12:00 AM (5 years ago) Bookmark Link

you have, and it is.

They did a fanzine about bands like Lack of Knowledge? What!?

Goodness, Colonel, I nearly forgot I had that CDR!

"Nothing Natural" is my favorite of theirs. I also remember having a bit of a crush on Emma at the time.

Joke from my schooldays:

What's Louise Woodward's favourite tune?

oh snap.

I think I have pretty much everything they ever released! So probably not going to bother with deluxe reissues, but still good that they're coming out.

see, no matter what i already own, for sure my copy of gala would benefit from replacement by a remastered and less muddy version...

http://vonpipmusicalexpress.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/sweetness-and-light-the-miki-berenyi-interview-2008/

tl;dr

"De-Luxe" will be in Rock Band 2.

Miki resurfaces and sings this time
http://vonpipmusicalexpress.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/seinking-ships-miki-berenyi/

This news makes me so so so happy!

I was just reading an interview with her yesterday (well, a "let's chase down old shoegazers" article posted on Sonic Cathedral") and thinking "wow, she was so cool and so mouthy, where is she?"

Going to listen now...

Whole back catalogue; singles, albums, EPs and b.sides - all on Spotify fyi.

Oh, that's made my day.

And your message has made mine!

Got Gala on now. For an tape I played nearly a thousand times until the actual tape gave out, I have forgotten great swathes of it.

For all the "sonic cathedrals of sound" it's the incredibly simple stuff that's most effective. Big drums, big booming bass and this spangly wash over the top. I had forgotten how *catchy* they were. Pop songs drenched in reverb.

Yeah they were mad catchy weren't they? Sheer pop. Perfect for the 16 year old me, who on discovering the Melody Maker in 1990 just couldn't .. get with all this noisy manly grim looking American rock and the po faced guitar bands of the era. Then i heard Lush and the whole world of bands that only the music press seemed to like made sense.
Pop but a bit noisy! Of course! I think i owe Lush a lot.

Amazing thing rediscovered thru Spotify: Starlust was originally on the 1992 For Love e.p. and was brilliant and very Lush Mk 1; way better than the slightly weedy slick version on Split, 2 years after. They had this weird thing where they would do B sides/offcuts then polish them for the albums. They also did that with The Childcatcher. But yes.. Starlust Version 1! Where have you been these last 18 years?

It all seems such a shame the way they ended.