review #

Better Can't Make Your Life Better
and Which Studies The Past?
from The Big Takeover, Issue #40
review by Ben Szporluk

The Lilys have gone from being heavily influenced by My Bloody Valentine on their 1992 debut In The Presence of Nothing, to making British invasion style pop. If you love groups such as the Kinks, the Who, early (Syd barrett's) Pink Floyd and the Monkees, you'll love this. Kurt Heasley writes timeless pop songs which I'll be playing to my grandkids someday (if I ever become a pop) and he's damn charismatic (especially live). Try not singing along to the like of "Cambridge California" or "Returns Every Morning" (possibly the best single this year). Even when the Lilys slow down a notch they still manage to dazzle, as on the Syd Barrett-like gems "Elevator is Temporary" and "The Tennis System (and its stars)."

The SubPop single is like a cross between Barrett's Pink Floyd with maybe a touch of the later day Zombies. Totally Groovy. The b-side, "Baby's A Dealer," is much more straightforward in a Kinks mode (think "Till The End of the Day"). Here's an American band who will give all the Britpop groups a run for their money.

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