Split - Lush

...Mad Love and Scar EPs. Split was their third album. I decided on Split; I think this is their most mature work, not as accessible as their fourth and final album, Lovelife, but poses far more interesting questions of the listener, and had a rather more polished sparkly dynamic than their earlier work. This would be the first port of call or any new listener would my arm be twisted for a recommendation, and this won the day; Split it is.

...were formed in 1988, and Split was released in 1994, and not as successful as the previous album Spooky, or their biggest seller, the follow up and final album Lovelife.

I spotted Miki at a Throwing Muses gig once in London and this is an indication of her label mate's influence. Their sound is also influenced by the wall of sound that is My Bloody Valentine, with their take on it being less harsh and jarring, and more warm and sparkly, ... more

INTRODUCTION

You can tell from my previous music reviews that I am a big champion of late 80s/early to mid 90s Indie. And continuing on this theme, here I look at one time Indie darlings Lush. I became familiar with Lush in my first year as a student, and managed to see them at my University. The Lower Refectory, Sheffield University Students Union 1990 if anyone really wants to know. It cost me a princely sum of £1.75 to see them strut their stuff. It cost a bit more for the black t-shirts with a huge "Lush" logo embossed on the back and swirly, brightly coloured patterns on the front, but it was worth it. A friend of mine was on the Entertainments committee, and I later found out that at that particular gig, they weren't very happy with the crowd as we "weren't very active". I bit of an unfair gripe I thought, as the place was packed and surely they were being paid, but anyway I remember that gig as being pretty cool.

I have ummed and ahhed regarding which of their albums I should review. It was a close run thing between Gala and Split. Gala was their debut, actually an amalgam of the Mad Love and Scar EPs. Split was their third album. I decided on Split; I think this is their most mature work, not as accessible as their fourth and final album, Lovelife, but poses far more interesting questions of the listener, and had a rather more polished sparkly dynamic than their earlier work. This would be the first port of call or any new listener would my arm be twisted for a recommendation, and this won the day; Split it is.

LUSH

Lush were fronted by dyed-redhead Miki Berenyi. Miki was of mixed Japanese and Hungarian extraction and was famous for her mouth and attitude, although by today's standards she wasn't really anything controversial. For Indie boys of a certain age, dyed moptop readhead girls in DMs held a certain appeal, and I was no different. In hindsight, I guess it isn't a particularly original look, but hell, I was 18, what did I know. She was ding dong in my book and played a mean sparkly guitar.

Miki was joined on vocals and guitar by schoolfriend Emma Anderson, Chris Acland (drums) and Steve Rippon (bass). Rippon left the band to concentrate on writing and was replaced by Phil King. They were signed to 4AD records and had come to their attention despite shambolic early gigs. 4AD were famed for their dark, brooding, avant garde UK Indie roster, with bands such as Dead Can Dance and The Cocteau Twins (in fact Robin Guthrie from the Cocteaus produced the band on occasions), as well as American Indie legends The Pixies and Throwing Muses.

Lush were formed in 1988, and Split was released in 1994, and not as successful as the previous album Spooky, or their biggest seller, the follow up and final album Lovelife.

I spotted Miki at a Throwing Muses gig once in London and this is an indication of her label mate's influence. Their sound is also influenced by the wall of sound that is My Bloody Valentine, with their take on it being less harsh and jarring, and more warm and sparkly, their sound being somewhat more listenable to the untrained ear than say, My Bloody Valentine or Ride.

In 1996, Acland unexpectedly hung himself, allegedly due to depression, and after a long think and no further action, in 1998 Lush split. Berenyi was devastated at the suicide of her ex boyfriend Acland.

SPLIT TRACK BY TRACK REVIEW

Light From A Dead Star - From the beginning you can hear a more assured and mature sound from the band's previous work. an utterly fabulous opening. Strings opening, a little chime here and there, and Miki's shrill lyric, then chiming guitars and tinny drumming, then more layers of guitar and Emma joining in on backing vocals,, building up to a crescendo, and suddenly the track ends with a gentle chime, back where we began. Great stuff. Not a note of feedback in site, which was a real departure.

Kiss Chase - Back to their previous trademark sound with this one; swirling, distorted feedback guitar, with a sweet, chiming reverberation and that sweet female vocal. It is worth noting this is in stark contrast to the random white noise of My Bloody Valentine. These were the only shoesgazers who made feedback sound beautiful in an in-tune manner. There is some great chiming, distorted riffing in here.

Blackout - A pacy track throbbing with urgency. Fast, buzzing guitar, the feedback being a bit more "conventional" in that is isn't sweetened to the hilt, it's more raw and sounds great with the twin harmonised female vocal and thumping drumming. Lots of "ahhhhh-ahhhhhh"ing and "oooo-oooo"ing as you'd expect. Fabulous. A great hybrid of the classic shoegazing feedback overload underpinned with an underlying pop sensibility. They'd never have pulled off this is previous efforts.

Hypocrite - this was actually an Indie "hit" (i.e. number 52 in the UK charts). Another thumping, buzzing track, the dual-female vocal sounding more angry this time as the girls splutter "you're a hypocrite, you give it out but you can't take it" in much the manner you'd expect from someone being given the runaround by bad boys and yet totally failing to comprehend why or being able to break the cycle. 13 years on I hope they're a bit more clued up.

Lovelife - obviously Miki & Emma have got over it as a catchy, shining, chiming guitar riff, and funky drumming they extols the virtues of some chap "you are the one one with the concrete arms I adore you". Fickle or what.

Desire Lines - along with Hypocrite, this was a single, released at exactly the same time. This is certainly the superior track anyway. I always imagine this track being played as you watch England cock up the early stages of some footy tournament (not that they can even reach one these days), as you watch the hopeless players trudge off in slow motion after yet another hapless, witless, clueless defeat. It certainly has that slow, mournful and ultimately cathartic quality to it (unlike the said defeat). Starting off with a ticking clock, then into a clear, riffing guitar then funereal drumming, then Miki cooes and cajoles the guitar, "I don't want to be here, in this room" she laments over much angst ridden "ahhh-ahh"ing. What makes this track so special is that suddenly from nowhere, when you think you've got the measure of the track, you get a big whack of feedback guitar riffing that doesn't so much fill the room with sound but makes it flex and expand outwards, so unexpected it is, and suddenly it's gone again and the girls are still "ahhh"ing.

The Invisible Man - this album definitely keeps you on your toes with it's movements as here is another driving track, kicking in with mucho sweet distortion and "ooo" ing. Much frantic acoustic strumming and tambourine later, and Miki is urging to "please let me start screaming" and then the "ooo"ing is overlaid by several feedback guitars competing; the nice feedback; the dirty feedback, it's all thrown in there in with the reverberating lyric.

Undertow - That dirty, raw feedback is back again, with some hollow, echoey drumming and the usual "ahhh"ing, harmonised twin female lyric. On this album they've learnt to mix their sound up a bit, and this is yet another example of their judicious use and variation of effects. As the girls coo "let me try to pull you free" at the track's climax, you have swirling, distorted guitar, drumming and thumping bass competing, as ultimately the vocal wins and ends the track on it's own.

Never-Never - a beautiful beginning of a gently chiming guitar, with a vaguely wailing one, and some "oooo-oooo"s are gradually thrown in to lead us into the lyric "only childen sometimes comprehend, loneliness can often be a friend" and that sets the tone for this dreamy lament of a track. "I am sunken in biology, I cannot control that part of me, I don't want to hurt you, but I think I'm going to" continues Miki, safe in the knowledge that some bloke who's been nice to her is going to inevitably face the bullet for some cad who's got her jumping through hoops. What a great track; when Miki Has finished we are led into something of a chiming guitar solo, overlaid with some gentle drumming and bass. This goes on for 3 or 4 minutes, which may sound somewhat indulgent but as violins lead the track out you're left feeing somewhat satisfied it has to be said.

Lit Up - a good title as it's very apt; light, choppy, sparkly guitars are complemented with Miki's cheery lyric "and youre; friend ... to point and to ....". A very breezy, upbeat track with lots of layers of sonic lustre.

Starlust - Wow! S much going on here; shimmering guitars jumping from the left to right stereo channel, interspersed with roughly buzzing feedback ones, leading to a clean sounding riff, then back to a chainsaw of one. All the time in the background is crisp rhythmic drumming and Miki's sweet lyric, with Emma joining her on occasions. Sheer brilliance.

When I Die - An interesting track with what sounds like a duelling of acoustic guitar and a twistingly distorted one, with Miki this time providing a breathy vocal (listen to her audibly inhaling between lines) for this lament of a lost one "when I die, I'll see you again", with violins swirling in and out. A quite beautiful and yet achingly sad ending to this great album.

TRACK LISTING / WRITER

1. "Light from a Dead Star" (Berenyi) - 3:15
2. "Kiss Chase" (Berenyi) - 3:17
3. "Blackout" (Anderson) - 3:06
4. "Hypocrite" (Berenyi) - 2:53
5. "Lovelife" (Anderson) - 3:56
6. "Desire Lines" (Anderson) - 7:37
7. "The Invisible Man" (Anderson) - 2:14
8. "Undertow" (Berenyi) - 4:57
9. "Never-Never" (Anderson) - 8:04
10. "Lit Up" (Anderson) - 4:00
11. "Starlust" (Anderson,Berenyi) - 3:22
12. "When I Die" (Anderson) - 4:17

LEGACY

As shoegazing fell out of fashion, so did Lush's obvious influence, although perhaps the recent raft of "nu-gaze" bands have some of their work on their mp3 players. They are probably best remembered for their later poppy, more accessable work, which was very much part of the up and coming at the time Britpop genre. Jarvis Cocker from Pulp guest appeared on the Lovelife track Ciao, which perhaps gives an indication their place in the grand scheme of things; a cult band who just missed out on making it big.

However, an odd Lush story is related to their authorised cover of The Rubinoos song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (retitled "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend), which appears on the US release B-sides compliation "Tupelino". This was cited in a lawsuit from The Rubinoos against Avril Lavigne, whose song "Girlfriend" allegedly sounds remarkably similar to Lush's cover version!

LUSH TODAY

There are various rumours about what Miki Berenyi is doing these days The most notable ones are she is an editorial assistant for the BBC, or a landscape gardener. However, in a recent development, Miki has contributed some guest vocal on the new album from Seinking Ships:

http://www.seinkingships.com/Main/news.htm

After Lush, Emma Anderson formed Sing-Sing, who continue to record and perform.

Phil King freelances as a picture researcher form Uncut Magazine, and was for some time post-Lush was a member of The Jesus and Mary Chain.

CONCLUSION

Lush were probably one of the more well known bands from the shoegazing genre, and the most notable female fronted one. Ironically, they managed to rid themselves of that label just before tragedy struck. People may well remember their catchy, poppy hit "Single Girl" but in my opinion there is much more to this band than this arguably throwaway single. There was a darker, deeper and more introspective side as befits any shoegazing band, which was I reckon far more interesting and rewarding. I can understand them wanting to seek wider recognition and go more commercial in their sound, but they lost something along the way. This album was certainly less well received that their previous ones, perhaps a result of the shoegazing genre having dispersed some time earlier, which is a shame as this isn't really the archetypal shoegazing sound; they had added so much more to it by this stage.

I would recommend this album to anyone seeking a female singer/songwriter that has more to them that the teenybop skater girl facsimiles, spice girl wannabees or even angst ridden intellectual twentysomethings. This should appeal to anyone who likes loud, swirly, jangly feedback ridden guitars, overlaid with a sugary sweet female vocal. Etherial dreampop, if you will. Bored of Avryl Lavigne or Katie Nash? I didn't like them anyway and one of them has already ripped them off. Listen to this I beseech you! 

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