[.ca] La S

From Amazon.co.uk:
And so, by 1990, it seemed that no band in Britain remembered harmonies and jangly guitars and The Beatles and playing tapes backwards and psychedelic pop except The La's. And the La's weren't doing much about it--they spent so long in the studio moving faders up and down a millimetre that Go! Discs had to break into the studio, steal the tapes and release the album against the band's wishes. Chief La Lee Mavers still asserts The La's is a mess; nothing like he'd intended, but to everyone else in the universe it sounds glorious: with it's chiming Byrds-ian guitars and flat Mersey back-beat, "Timeless Melody" is the most aptly named song since Dodgy's "Good Enough;" and as the 60 million cover-versions constantly prove, "There She Goes" is the loveliest smack ode since the Strangler's "Golden Brown". The rest is never less than classic, whatever it's creator might mutter into his pint. --Caitlan Moran

Chronique amazon.fr:
Comme de nombreux groupes pop anglais du début des années 90, les La's créèrent l'événement, avant d'être vite oubliés. Le groupe est principalement connu pour le single "There She Goes", mais l'album The La's est plein de chansons délicieusement discordantes et admirablement composées. Il mérite que l'on s'y attarde au-delà du hit qu'il contient. Le chanteur compositeur Lee Mavers est le principal responsable du succès et de l'échec de cet album. Par perfectionnisme, il a fini par stopper la dynamique du disque avec ses changements de personnel, de nombreux réenregistrements des titres et une obsession du détail qui entraîna de nombreux retards pour sa sortie. Mais sa quête de perfection a presque réussi : pratiquement toutes les chansons auraient pu devenir des singles à succès. Un classique de la pop anglaise devenu culte. --Beth Bessmer

the blueprint for Britpop of the 90's:
this album really fell on deaf ears here in America at the time of its release. England of course tended to gravitate to it more so than American audiences due to its prevalent Mersey sound. Lee Mavers might then have been considered a special songwriter in that he was able to inject his brand of creativeness to the songwriting process however still leaving a foot firmly planted in the magical world of the British Invasion. He has since the release of this album become a recluse and still whenever found for a comment or remark about his bands fleeting daliance with world pop stardom that the recording for this album was never up to snuff. it's been widely reported that the instruments and equipment used during the production of this album were left with the dust still on them whilst recording because it added that element of mysticism to the sound (see Brian Wilson). Indeed, there is certainly an enchanted feeling and vibe you get when listening however im not sure how much it actually had to do with the "dust". it might be noted that several Brit pop stalwarts have recognized this album as the one which layed the groundwork for their respective sounds. the songs are uplifting and have certain cheeriness to them. im sure you could have placed a band like the La's next to others like the Kinks, Hollies and the Who they would have certainly fit in. it's nice to know that artists still draw from this amazing time in musical history for their influences and that while still sounding relative to that time and place it spawned a much needed music movement in England and the world over. Noel Gallagher once said that his ambition for Oasis was only to pick up where the La's left off. Well done, Noel!

Sadly forgotten by most:
It is one of the most terrible disappointments in music that so many people are blind to the sheer genius of this album, the one and only by the La's. Released back in 1990, it has not aged a day and goes far beyond the simple "60s sound sampling" that a lot of British bands were privvy to practicing back in those days. The entire album is a 40 minute long joyride through sublime melodies, tight musicianship and humorous lyrics. Because primary songwriter Lee Mavers was such a perfectionist, all the songs are perfectly put together - even though he claims he was rushed into finishing the album and handed the record label an album of "demo" quality. This perfectionism also essentially killed the La's because they haven't recorded anything since. The band was a killer live band, due to 12-hour rehearsals to be on top of their game. Mavers apparently still writes songs, but refuses to record them. "Son of a Gun" is a great little ditty that opens the album, crisp acoustic guitars and a man who's at "loggerheads with his past". Doesn't even reach 2 minutes, but still great. Follow-up song "I Can't Sleep" is another killer melodic song, bouncy and fun. "Timeless Melody" is exactly that. "Liberty Ship" sounds a little like an old sea chanty from another century, huge fun. "There She Goes" is the band's signature song and has relegated them to a one-hit wonder, which is a terrible shame. It's also funny how Sixpence None the Richer, a Christian band, got famous for covering this song: it's about heroin. "Doledrum" is a bouncer about visiting the village of Doledrum, apparently a boring place. The second side begins with "Feelin" a song with a guitar sound lifted right out of 1966. It's a big song with the Naked Chef, he plays it during the intro to his show. "Way Out" is a simple acoustic song performed in 6/8 time, very catchy. "I.O.U" is just great, another catchy song (aren't they all?). "Freedom Song" is the one song that is cut from a different cloth, an acoustic lament with very sharp lyrics. "Failure" is like a furnace blast, a raucous meditation on teen angst the year before Cobain Americanized it. Album closer "Looking Glass" is the perfect epoch of the La's sound, the longest, most luxurious and most melodic song on an album chock-full of melodies. As the song fades out, snippets from the past triumphs are mixed together and fed through backwards faster and faster until the album suddenly ends. "the glass is smashed..." I don't know if I sold too many people with this review but I hope you do consider my ramblings as those of a man who holds this wonderful album as a precious jewel in his almost 300+ album collection. Amazing everytime you listen to it.

Rare form:
It is so rare for every track of a CD to be enjoyable, and this is one of them. Every single song on the CD is good... isn't that a hoot? How can you not buy this. I bought it when it came out in the '90s, and have been listening to it ever since. It definitely has a "British" feel to it, and I find it enjoyable to this day. Too bad they split up :-(

Pure Pop Period Piece:
The La's one and only self-titled album comes from that brief period in the early 1990s when Britsh bands like The Stone Roses and The House of Love were mining their 60s predecessors for inspiration. The sublime single "There She Goes" was one of the finest examples of these efforts. Fortunately, it is not the only such success on this album. "Timeless Melody," is nearly as good, as are "Son of a Gun," and "Feelin." Almost every song on the album clocks in at under three minutes (save for the pyschedlic closer "Looking Glass" that goes for almost eight). Each is a pure blast of pop bliss of the kind that rock and rollers these days seem to have little patience for. Unfortunately, The La's disappeared from view after this one success, apparently having self-destructed. Overall, a beautifully crafted relic of an all-too-brief era in popular music.

A Revelation:
I am constantly in search of new, enlightening records, records that synthesize the 60s genius of The Beatles, The Byrds, and Dylan and add a distinctly modern twist. Although I have previously discovered excellent records in this vein, I have never come across an album quite as astounding as "The La's." The one and only album ever released by Lee Mavers' genius band, "The La's" is a sleek, uber-melodic, mind-blowing tour de force, a record that towers over the landscape of British (and, for that matter, all) pop music. The unforgettable melodies, such as the chiming and heavenly tune that is "There She Goes" make a case for The La's being the direct descendents of fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles. Maver's thickly accented singing is rich and varied, a blueprint for every singer from Liam Gallagher to Stephan Jenkins (well, if you can consider the latter a 'singer'). Each and every song is flawlessly constructed, concisely and effectively arranged with minimalist guitars and bubbling rhythms. All of them clock in perfectly at or under three minutes, with the exception of the epic closer "Looking Glass," which is nothing less than a latter-day "A Day In The Life," an avant-garde suite complete with escalating tension and embedded with snippets of the eleven track that precede it (try to pick out the melodies of "Liberty Ship" and "I Can't Sleep" during the fadeout). Mavers' lyrics are inventive and poetic, and he delivers them with style and power (I love the way he says "person-arly I think that's fine" on "Son of a Gun"). It's a shame that The La's never made a follow-up to this absolute classic, although I doubt that they could have ever outdone it. "The La's" is a truly perfect record, and a precious gem in any record collection.

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