The La's

THE LA'S
"THE LA'S (DELUXE EDITION)"
(Universal, 2008)


I was about to write a review that slathered on the superlatives and waxed snobbish about how anybody who didn't recognize how great this album is just can't truly call themselves a music fan ... but then I realized I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I did. I'm actually a relative newcomer to The La's, at least as a serious listener. I'd had the cassette of this album back in the day, but didn't listen to it very much, and I might have picked up the CD once since then as an afterthought (so much of an afterthought that I still can't be sure I did) ... but when I found the recently released, 2-disc deluxe edition of the album at Rhino Records a few weeks ago, I finally decided I had to give them my full attention. I could now kick myself repeatedly for taking two whole decades to do so.

Few things in this world break my heart more than when an artist releases a truly brilliant album that could justifiably and without hyperbole be called a "masterpiece" -- and then abruptly ceases to exist as a recording artist. In the case of British jangle-power-pop band The La's, it was (according to the liner notes in this package by Ian Harrison) the intense perfectionism and arguable eccentricity of frontman Lee Mavers that all but doomed their discography to only one album, which itself was almost never released at all. This deluxe package contains both the original release of the album, produced by Steve Lillywhite; and an earlier, nearly-lost version, produced by Mike Hedges but aborted by Mavers.

Everyone has heard "There She Goes", one of the biggest singles of the early '90s, but that's hardly all this album has going for it. The irresistibly infectious and utterly hummable nature of each and every track make it little wonder that dozens of current bands cite The La's as an influence. There are so many heavenly songs on this damn-near-perfect album that I can't hope to single out any. In any sane world, this album would have been enough to keep this band from being consigned to the one-hit-wonder status that they now seem to forever be entombed in. Sigh ... so much for not slathering on the superlatives ... but once you hear this album, you'll understand.

Buy the deluxe edition digitally on iTunes
Buy the standard edition digitally on iTunes
Buy the deluxe edition on CD from Amazon
Buy the standard edition on CD from Amazon