The La's

The La's (Go!Discs/London ’91) Rating: A-
This album is one of the forgotten gems of the early ‘90s. Simple, irresistibly catchy acoustic melodies are matched to chiming guitars and lead La Lee Mavers’ uniquely British vocal phrasings in creating timeless pop songs that harken back to the '60s Merseybeat sound. “Son Of A Gun” starts things off with a sprightly acoustic melody before “I Can’t Sleep,” a driving rocker that leads into the appropriately named “Timeless Melody.” Elsewhere, sing songy catchphrases such as “give it all you got now” (on “Way Out”) and easy going melodies (“I.O.U.”) are the norm for these basic but enjoyably effective songs. Of course, “There She Goes,” whose glorious guitar jangle and gorgeous falsetto vocal makes it one of the most perfectly realized pop songs of all-time, towers over everything else here. Some of the other songs are only average (“Liberty Ship,” “Freedom Song,” “Failure”) or seem slightly unfinished (notice how abruptly “Son Of A Gun” ends, for instance), but the epic “Looking Glass” ends the album brilliantly. Whereas the rest of the album is a textbook of concise pop songwriting ("Feelin'," for instance), the band stretches out on this track, which starts as a sad, atmospheric ballad before eventually building up to an explosive finish. Unfortunately, although critics loved the album and “There She Goes” was a minor U.K. hit, the band themselves were bitterly unhappy with the album’s results and the difficulties they had in making it (it was finally released without the band’s approval). In fact, never has a band been so disdainful of their own product (particularly perfectionist Mavers), which I find mystifying since it’s such an accomplished album. They would subsequently break up without ever releasing another album. Note: Bassist John Powers resurfaced with Cast and All Change in 1995. Note #2: Sixpence None The Richer scored a hit with a vastly inferior cover version of “There She Goes” in 1999.

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