The La's - ' HMV ' magazine - Interview and band picture. June 1991.

"..with Steve Lillywhite for 3 months and it all fell apart. "

Hard to get detail from a badly published picture, look at Cammy's face..
I've just used fairly low compression and left it pretty much alone.
Better pictures from this session are available on La'zarus.

PUBLICATION - HMV (promotional magazine given out in Record Stores..)
ORIGIN - ? (page comes from Canada)
DATE OF PUBLICATION - June 1991
SUBJECT - The La's
TITLE - Latest Liverpudlian Sensations
AUTHOR - Jonathan Wright
CONTENT - Lack of faith in their LP, talk of future recording..
PHOTO - No photo credit given.

This isn't the first LP. We've been recording on and off for about three years with different line-ups and different producers.

Basically, we've never got the sound we're after, a true representation of the band. We were with Steve Lillywhite for three months and it all fell apart. Every-one walked off and the record company got what they had and kind of mixed it, done it and got it out."

The story of the La's has not been an easy one, as bassist John Power is making clear. It begins in Liverpool in 1986: John got together with guitarist-singer-songwriter Lee Mavers and a couple of other guys to play the city's pub scene.

By 1987, the band signed to the English label Go! Discs. Personnel changes in the intervening years have been too numerous to document, but the current line up, with Lee's brother Neil on guitar and drummer Cammy, seems stable.

And despite John's attitude toward the La's' first album-length offering (to be diplomatic about it), The La 's was one of the finest long-players to come out of England in 1990. Packed with the kind of guitar-powered melodies you'd despaired of ever hearing played with any conviction again, it's been a hit with critics and public alike. And despite his misgivings, John concedes, "If someone likes it, I'm not going to call them a dickhead."

But it has left the La's in the awkward situation of promoting a product that they don't
particularly like. The band recently finished up their second sold-out British tour within a few months.

In part, the La s' new-found success has been down to timing. There's an undeniable '60s feel to their music, which has captured the British imagination and given the band a top 20 hit with "There She Goes." Also, the La's' dress sense is close to that of such fashionable Manchester bands as the Charlatans U.K. and Inspiral Carpets.

Still, John is quick to play down notions that the La's might be jumping on any bandwagons. "Four years ago we were doing what we're doing now: the same songs, the same hair cuts, the same fucking attitude, with all the lads from Liverpool watching us getting into it."

Setting aside past problems, the La's are confident about their future. John comments that they already have their next two albums written and that the songs are better than those recorded so far. You'd best believe him.

Jonathan Wright.