The La's: The La's (1990)

#22

The Greatest Band There Never Was

There was a common cliché in usage here on the British Isles that Scousers can be work-shy scroungers who value their free-time so much, they very often spend an entire lifetime on the lam from occupational pursuits. Would it be unfair to call Lee Mavers one of these Scousers?

Since this album was released in 1990, he has been able to support himself and his family on the profits generated by the timeless summer anthem There She Goes. Since then, well… maybe a game or two of croquet? Three or four rounds of whist with his bored nephew? Lucky that offensive stereotype does not apply to Scousers these days. Still waiting on that second album, Lee. Take your time.

The La’s will be remembered as the greatest band that never was

and this record sits next to all the one-album masterpieces out there worth a place in all CD collections. Wish I could think of several other ones now. Parallelograms from Lisa Perhacs, perhaps? Although that does not qualify as a masterpiece, per se. This eponymous album was not one either, but the bonus tracks added to the 2001 remaster mean that it now can be labelled a five-star masterpiece without fear of jumping to meretricious conclusions. Sense to follow.

The Past

The original album is a minor pop gem brimming with original ditties that abound with gorgeous little hooks, and still wipes the floor with contemporary chancers such as The Zutons. Son Of A Gun opens with two gambolling hooks that intersect over the free-wheeling hook of the vocals towards several other hooks hidden down there somewhere. Within just the first five seconds, this listener is convinced that Lee Mavers knows his way around a pop melody like no man before him.

The electric guitars here bounce through some of the tightest arrangements and niftiest wordplay modern man has ever managed on a pop album. His harmonies are irresistible and heavy Liverpool accent has never sounded as fabulous since the Fab Four disguised theirs on record all those decades ago. It all then changes after the second minute. I Can’t Sleep comes staggering in with a louder electric guitar and hopping bass line, building to another splendid chorus and makes the threat of a “big black cloud coming” sound like a nice slab of birthday cake. Wonderful and over far too soon.

Timeless Melody owes more to the Merseybeat sound than other tunes on this, but with a little nod to the sky-high pop work of the Lightning Seeds as well, whose first LP preceded this one by one year. The opening verse has a distinctive melody to it and Mavers sounds as though he was destined to make this kind of wonderful pop music. It is almost sad to hear him sing “a melody always finds me” when he has been in professional retirement for almost two decades, but this tune has a staggering guitar solo and wistful pop credentials a-go-go.

Liberty Ship is all jangled guitars, craftily plucked acoustics and bouncy vocals comfortable in the slinky bass support and indelible harmonies building to an oceanic chorus. It almost makes me nostalgic for 1990. Even though I was the paltry age of 3 for most it.

There She Goes

The tune that made Lee Mavers a rather large amount of money, it is possible to draw similarities between this classic and There She Goes Again from the Velvet Underground, but this has its own little hook and sky-high summer melody to play with. The attractive feature of this track is its innocence and bottled euphoria. It is simultaneously one of the happiest tunes produced by a living mortal while at the same time it retains a wistful feel that lingers below the tear-jerking harmonies.

This makes it an ambiguous anthem of loss, happiness and captures the feel of a never-ending summer like no other track ever has (or will) before it. On a musical level, the little pauses before the guitars and drums crash together would appear to have been taken from the Velvet Underground tune (as well as three quarters of the title), but this is far superior to Lou Reed’s slice of domestic violence. This is one of the best pop songs ever recorded because the hook, the lyrics, the vocals and the harmonies are all absolutely perfect. Quite frankly, Mavers deserves all the royalties he can cream for this one.

The Others

Doledrum shifts gear with another fun stab of Merseybeat brilliance. Mavers vocal tapers off into gloomier territory because of the subject matter and the acoustic guitars are accompanied by some neat bongo touches and omnipresent backing vocals that he is not reticent about using.

Feelin’ bounces its way through next with another unique batch of hooks deployed in perfect places and electric guitars that help support the speedy vocal tics and jaunty leaps. Way Out jangles in with a distinctive acoustic sound an keeps the original pace of the album going with another new approach and series of neat harmonies, verses and choruses. Being surrounded by all this perfection can be a problem – these are demonstrations of pop perfection and when all together risk being taken for granted.

I.O.U boasts perhaps the most effortlessly catchy chorus of the record and also one of the neatest little modulations in between the last verse. Freedom Song is another demonstration of the genius of this group, tinged with a reggae influence and a bouncy melody that teeters on the brink of disaster as it wobbles in discomfort towards its unexpected conclusion.

John Power was the only fixed second member of the group and lends a neat second guitar to this tune which highlights the sheer scope of their sound. Failure is a harder rocking track that buries its hook deep behind a louder growl and more abrasive performance and is the least successful piece on the album here.

Looking Glass is a breathtaking closer to the original LP – a searching lament on the passage of life and the meaning of it all that builds to an earth-shattering climax.

The Present

The 2001 re-issue tacked on several bonus tracks that are terrific in their own strange manner. Unexpected dirge All By Myself is added here and despite the tongue-in-cheek lyrics and self-pitying chorus, is a quite poignant little tune with eerie cello part and droning bass as Mavers croons “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”

Other gems include the B-side Clean Prophet that was fine enough for inclusion on the original album; a manic little jangle-pop wonder that jerks through its pleasant instrumental parts in uproarious fashion while the chorus kneels at the command of Mavers.

Knock Me Down makes the band sound rather like Crowded House, which is no great thing since despite being magnificent – they are no Crowded House. This sounds like a prehensile pop tune to-be until the hook comes out of nowhere from the unusual background percussion overdub. Not terrific. Over has poor(ish) sound, recorded as it was in a stable in Liverpool, but from the scratchy tape sound a beautiful melody twinkles its way into the ear of the listener and an undiscovered gem emerges from the angelic lead harmony.

That glorious sound would capture anyone’s attention were they present beside the sheep and fowl that evening. I.O.U is here again in studio-take form. I prefer the original, but it was nice to include this take as well so all those non-fans can listen with indifference. It captures the rawer side of the group well.

Keep The Royalties Coming

The La’s is a quintessential cult record that has probably made Lee Mavers even more scrumptious millions following its continual lionisation in the press and from music enthusiasts on websites such as this. But there is a reason for this. These people have heard the record. It was one of the finest pop albums made in the 1990s still stands up as a phenomenally strong piece of work seventeen years after it was released and its composer went into hibernation.

Whatever the reason he retired, whatever caused the sudden desire to stop making music, this was one hell of a debut album from a band that should have been made to keep going. There are too many bands who just should not form or make records. The La’s were mercifully cut short and this is their one and only gift to the world. Now, altogether, say thank you.

Rating: 10/10