Selected

While most immersed in American independent rock music remain content in being the poster children of the aloof aesthetic, Lilys frontman Kurt Heasley exudes persona. On stage, Heasley is wide-eyed and wacky. His banter between songs is rife with non-sequitors delivered in a quasi-Brit accent. It's hard to believe that Heasley's sincere in his zaniness; it feels contrived, theatrical, and distracting. Regardless of how great the incarnate of the Lilys' revolving member base plays, Heasley's act adds an air of distaste, invariably tainting the live show.

In the studio, though, Heasley comes off with minimal eccentricity and obnoxiousness. Time to record means time to play it straight, which Heasley has shown he can do remarkably well. Though his lyrics may take turns for the off-kilter, the guy plays his Kinks/Who/Stones revivalist pop without a trace of irony or retro-kitsch.

After 1999's decidedly hi-fi The 3 Way, Heasley meandered in the bleeps and blips that today's technology provides on Zero Population Growth, an entry in Darla Records' acclaimed Bliss-Out series. Next, some unreleased cuts from 1995 were dusted off for last year's split EP with Aspera Ad Astra. And finally, we ended up here, at Selected. The record marks the first new studio material we've heard from Lilys in over a year and a half, in the form of a 17-minute EP. But whereas EPs generally function to satiate fans between full-lengths, Selected feels calculated to leave stomachs growling.

This comes largely from the fact that three of these five songs aren't even new compositions; "The Any Several Sundays" and "Won't Make You (Sleepy)" are recordings of some forgotten tunes from the band's early live days. Nonetheless, an interesting dynamic is achieved through the now-seven-piece British revival junkies playing tunes that were written during their distinctly different shoegazing days. The crunchy, reverberating guitar that opens "The Any Several Sundays" is testament to how well the new Lilys can work with material left from the old Lilys; the track becomes psychedelic neo-Invasion guitar pop. Its fuzzy production also reduces the saccharine factor that too often has a symbiotic relationship with the infectious melodies Lilys tend to present.

"Won't Make You (Sleepy)" is an even better dreamy, subdued merging of sounds. The production here is still hazy, a small-scale take on the Wall of Sound wherein Heasley's vocals are mixed extremely low. His soft, sincere croon is merely another layer of stuffing in a warm and fluffy cushion of a song. Equally influenced by the Velvet Underground and My Bloody Valentine, "Sleepy" proves there is indeed a place where the fuzzy and beautiful live in melodic splendor.

During its brief runtime, though, Selected loses its way. "Touch the Water" is an Apples in Stereo song that Heasley co-wrote and previously performed on the Lilys' Returns Every Morning single. This take on the Banana Splits-meets-Super Furry Animals jangle pop is slightly slower, a bit out of focus, and mostly unnecessary, as it does little to improve on the two previously existing versions. "Peerless" and "Peerless II" both clock in at less than two minutes and seem suspiciously like filler. "Peerless" consists of a piercing sustained note, possibly played backwards at a high speed. "Peerless II" is no better, sporting two atonal (referred in the liner notes as "microtonal") guitar riffs at odds over white noise. While filler of any sort is by definition unnecessary, it's ludicrous on a release as short of this one, and its inclusion seems a botched effort to illustrate sonic deviation.

Selected offers only a fraction-of-a-second glimpse into what the Lilys are up to now. It barely has the power to even whet the appetites of fans, ravenous for new material from the band. Despite Selected's excellent moments, it's the sort of release best suited for completists eager for new and rare material. Still, even to diehard fans, it will ultimately feel incomplete.

Amazon.com
Matthew Cooke

Turning to British Invasion-style power pop in the vein of the Byrds and the Kinks, the Lilys continue the reinvention that began with Better Can't Make Your Life Better (1996), blasting out blunt guitar riffs with a tuneful, Beach Boys-y melodic sense. Still, the band haven't forgotten their feedback-laden roots--"Touch the Water" has a distinctly familiar trace of My Bloody Valentine around the edges. But it's delivered with such jagged, lo-fi joy, you barely catch the guitar pedal chaos roiling in the background. Likewise, "Won't Make You (Sleepy)" glides along on a spacey little harmony that could easily be on a Ride album, but it floats atop scrappy drum fills and a fat, bass-heavy melody. It's a raucous, messy vibe that would sound perfect on scratchy vinyl, and in this band's hands, provokes a buoyantly alive brand of rock & roll. 

AMG Review
Bryan Thomas

This Lilys release -- like their Tigerstyle split-EP with Philly-based space rock band Aspera Ad Astra -- might be seen by some as yet another chapter in the deviant pop career of Kurt Heasley and his Lilys. While Heasley's previous releases are well known for having a healthy British Invasion fixation and his songs memorable for their odd tempo twists, run-on rhyming structures, octave-leaping mood swings, and hypersyllabic lyrics (especially the songs on The Three-Way), these tracks are more of a "tying up of loose ends" and a return to songs written during a time when this band was changing so rapidly that some of these Kurt Heasley-penned compositions were never properly recorded or released in the first place. This shouldn't be taken as only a vault-clearing effort while waiting for newer recordings to be released, however, as some of these tracks have long been Lilys fan favorites and should please them to no end. "The Any Several Sundays" was a 1990-1992 set staple, sounding like a slightly more psychedelic paisley underground track, with the clean, chiming folk-rock Rickenbacker guitar that may remind some of Byrds-ian psychedelia circa "Eight Miles High." "Touch the Water" is a rare Lilys cover and a track originally recorded by Apples in Stereo in 1994. The seven-plus-minute "Won't Make You (Sleepy)" is an oft-bootlegged Lilys space rock epic (think Ride). Finally, there are two versions of "Peerless," a short instrumental that Heasley has said in interviews is a "five-over-four, micro-tonal exploration." Incidentally, Heasley adopted the new moniker of "Kurt Karger" on this release's credits as a tribute to his newborn son, Karger. ~ Bryan Thomas, All Music Guide

Wow. Although this is merely a five song EP, I'm floored, thrilled, and converted. I also wonder how it is that I didn't know about these guys long ago; major cool points lost there. I feel that if I describe the sound, it won't be adequate, but since reviewing this here record is my job, I'll try. Imagine Kevin Shields applying the My Bloody Valentine treatment to early REM-styled pop music, and you're starting to get the idea. Although Lilys can't be credited with writing the book on this sound, they've sure as hell contributed a quality chapter.

The listener's perspective is bent and stretched all over the place on the songs contained here. An illustration: The first time I listened to this record was at the office. The first track began, "The Any Several Sundays," on which the guitars and backing band sound quite similar to the Byrds, except for one aspect: the vocals are mixed very low. It was clear that there was a good melody going on, but it was tough to make out over the clatter of the music. Subconsciously, I still expected to hear the Byrds, who emphasize their vocals over the band. So, I slowly cranked up the volume, and finally I heard the vocal harmonies my ears wanted to hear, delicately tucked underneath, with strange, muffled effects applied. Very cool. However, what I had forgotten was that the backing track had been turned up quite loud, which caused me to be reprimanded by my boss. Even cooler! The song put me in such a blissful mood that if I got fired at that moment, I wouldn't have cared too much. Now that's rock and roll!

This is a neat trick that creates the aural illusion of volume (taken to an extreme by My Bloody Valentine). Since you have a volume knob on the stereo, you can make things as loud or quiet as you'd like, unless the artist makes it hard to hear certain parts without having the other parts too loud. Listen to David Bowie's mix of Raw Power - everything sounds fairly in-place, although at a low level, until the lead guitar parts come in, and when they do they seem larger than life. As for Lilys' songs here, (which is to say, Kurt Heasley's songs, since he is the band's songwriter/guru), which occasionally bring to mind the Kinks, the Yardbirds, and even the Beatles, the sound treatment removes the possibility of sounding dated. The "Shields Method," when applied to an electric 12-string guitar and other instruments that leave a "classic" taste in your mouth, the old sounds new again, as if, in visual terms, these songs are photo negatives of their influences.

All in all, Selected is a great collection of songs. Now, if you'll excuse me, its time I got a clue; I'm off to hunt down their back catalog.

Enfant terrible Kurt Heasley has gone through a number of musical incarnations since the early '90s. His group, the Lilys, has been a sort of barometer of what is hip in indie. Nearly ten years ago, he was a disciple of all things shoegazer. The Lilys debut, In the Presence of Nothing, bore a distinct My Bloody Valentine bent. By the mid '90s, Heasley had turned to the Kinks, the Monkees, and the Zombies (much like his pals in the Apples in Stereo had done). Consequently, in 1996, Better Can't Make Your Life Better, was a Davies brothers tour de force, including mod riffs and resplendent hooks. Now, the Selected EP is a stylistic mix of the best of the '90s. Some tracks on the disc were staples of early Lilys sets, but never made it onto record. Here, they appear in full glory. At times it's as if you're listening to a confused super group, featuring members from Ride, the Kinks, XTC, the Byrds, MBV, the Apples in Stereo, and the Stone Roses. Unusual, but very appealing. The drone is here alongside tweaked little guitar licks. High points on Selected include the Andy Partridge-style "Touch the Water" (complete with faux-British accent), the Velvet Underground tinged "Won't Make You (Sleepy)," and the raunchy intro "Any Several Sundays." For being such a short EP, this is a real incredible disc. Looking back was never so delightful.