Lush
Country of origin:
England
Type of music generally:
Ethereal alternative rock/pop
Status:
Most recent release, Blind Spot EP (ep, 2016)
See also:
4AD's Lush siteWikipedia's entry for Sing-Sing
The Ectophiles' Guide entry for Sing-sing
Comparisons:
Cocteau Twins, Curve, various "dreampop/shoegazer" bands
Covers/own material:
Almost all material self-written, occasional covers
General comments:
Lush takes the standard rock/pop instruments—guitars, bass, and drums—and fuses them into a huge rush of noisy sound, placing it very much in the front of their music. Yet that rush of sound is definitely musical, with a strong beat and bright guitar work slicing through the noise. Occasional distortion, feedback, and other tricks add to the fun. Woven deeply in this music are the gorgeous vocals of Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson, often with some wonderful harmonies. Yet these vocals are buried in the music, becoming merely one more part of the huge sound, rather than front and center. Lush puts these odd pieces together with some great songs for different and wonderful music, music which is best heard *loud*.
Since the vocals are buried so deeply in the music, the lyrics are hard to pick out. In fact, I wonder if some of them are non-English. The lyrics that I've managed to pick out show more or less standard tales of love, especially on its shaky side. Given the strength of the music, the lack of clear or interesting lyrics is not much of a loss. (dbx@aa.net)Lush are more edgy than shimmery. Gala is a collection of their first three eps and has multiple personalities as they moved from the edgy early days into a Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins)-induced haze. Spooky is the heydey of the guthrie-ism, and my least favorite. Hypocrite [Editor's note: Hypocrite is a Split-era EP)] finds them moving back towards the earlier sound. the early eps represent the Lush I like the most. Hypocrite is okay, but I rarely listen to it as my tastes seem to have run away from that sound in the past few years. (woj@smoe.org)
Ever since I saw them live at lalapolloser it gave me such a greater respect for them. maybe it's cuz Miki has fire red hair. Maybe it's just cuz they are so different, you have to love it. (bighat@camelot.bradley.edu)
I bought two Lush albums, based on ravings on ecto—but I have yet to really get into them. What's the deal here? I neither like or hate them, but I found that two albums was at least one more than I should have bought. Maybe I need to play them some more, but they just kind of blend into one long not so interesting song. (Sorry Lush fans—this is just my opinion.) (jjhanson@att.net)
I think they are a step above Curve and Garbage. (iflin@speakeasy.net)
i'm a lushophile so i would say get Spooky, or if not then Gala. Spooky was a mistake, Scully's daughter that was never meant to live, a Gush Forth my Tears. Robin Guthrie ran the show, and the band did let him, and not to say the word regret, but rather to say that he would not produce for them again in that way, though they have remained friendly and intertwined. Lush of Spooky bore a beautiful doomed child, a delightful miscarriage, an at-times-brilliant mistake never to be repeated. Lush of later years i do still love, but as with Cocteau Twins' Treasure and Silmarils, there are some heights to which one may never return. (winona@mildh.pair.com)
Recommended first album:
Gala or Split
Recordings include:
- Gala (3 EPs compilation, 1991)
- Spooky (1992)
- Split (1994)
- Lovelife (1996)
- Topolino (single/eps/b-sides compilation, 1996)
- Blind Spot EP (ep, 2016)
Gala
Release info:
1991—4AD (U.K.)—CAD 0017; Reprise (U.S.)—9 26463 2
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Very high
Group members:
Chris Acland—drums
Emma Anderson—guitar, backing vocals
Miki Berenyi—vocals, guitar
Steve Rippon—bass
Produced by:
John Fryer and Lush—Scar EP; Robin Guthrie—Mad Love EP; Tim Friese-Green—Sweetness And Light EP
Comments:
This album is simply fantastic, as only one song falls below the level of excellent. A good number of them are strongly addictive, sticking in my brain for days. Wonderful touches decorate most of the album. I give it my highest praise when I note that I cannot do anything else while I'm listening to this. The only problem is that this debut album is a collection of stuff from earlier EPs, and two songs are repeated. Still why complain about repeated greatness? :) (dbx@aa.net)Gala was my first Lush, and is still my favorite. That album never fails to send me on a nostalgia trip. (Cgagnon@ana.org)
Spooky
Release info:
1992—4AD (U.K.)—CAD 2002; Reprise (U.S.)—9 26798 2
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
High
Group members:
Chris Acland—drums
Emma Anderson—guitar, backing vocals
Miki Berenyi—vocals, guitar
Steve Rippon—bass
Produced by:
Robin Guthrie
Comments:
I was probably futile to expect their second album to match their brilliant debut, and it didn't. A few of the songs on Spooky are more subdued, pushing the guitar into the background and lacking the usual strong drive. Too many of the extra touches and a few of the songs sound contrived. Still this album has a generous handful of fantastic songs which can stand with any on Gala. In spite of the letdown, this is an eminently worthwhile, enjoyable, and fun album. (dbx@aa.net)I was a little disappointed by this one. I only knew two songs of it, that I liked, and the album was produced by Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie and I really like most of the Cocteau Twins, but I found this a bit boring, too much of the same. Maybe I'll have to play it again. (Marion)
I've been dragging Lush's Spooky out a lot lately, cuz it's so mellow. (rholmes@cs.stanford.edu)
A key dreampop album. (afinney@ozonline.com.au)
Split
Release info:
1994—4AD (U.K.)—CAD 4011; Reprise (U.S.)—0936 45578 2
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Very high
Group members:
Chris Acland—drums
Emma Anderson—guitars, backing vocals
Miki Berenyi—vocals, guitars
Philip King—bass
Guest artists:
Martin Ditcham—percussion
Produced by:
Mike Hedges and Lush
Comments:
I *have* listened to Split a lot. it grew & grew on me in a delightful parasymbiotic way that Spooky sadly did not.
I think Split is meaner (in the good way) and chunkier than Spooky. Robin Guthrie's out and Mike Hedges is in at producer...except the band said they didn't like Hedges' production so Alan Moulder (yay!) got to do most or all of the final mixing. And it *shows*. It's still the same Lush icecream, but with a whole different topping than Spooky, gone from something airy and smooth and creamy to something in sharp crunchy little bits. Like going from, say, whipped cream to chopped M&Ms...from Cocteau Twins to Curve. But still it has moments of purepain-full beauty, and some nice string arrangements too, especially on "Desire Lines" and "When I Die". (winona@mildh.pair.com)Yes! Lush get loud again. Lush return to the harder edge of their first album with an absolute tour-de-force album that has woefully been ignored by the media. Buy this album! (pmcohen@voicenet.com)
I picked up this CD sometime last winter and really enjoy it. It never wears thin on me. Somehow I find that the bandname "Lush" is very appropriate. Don't ask me why... ;-) I don't know much about the band other than what is listed in the liner notes of the CD, but it's definitely cool stuff. I especially like how the two female vocalists play off one another's voices. The guitar work ain't half bad either. (kcd@cray.com)
Split is definitely an album with going on and on about! It's one my top 3 faves of 1994! (scottz@best.com)
One of the best records of its year, and easily the finest thing Lush have ever done. (ahoran@ozemail.com.au)
Split is Lush's best CD. And I loved the other two. (dbucak@netaxs.com)
Lovelife
Release info:
1996—4AD—CAD 6004 CD
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
High
Group members:
Chris Acland—drums
Emma Anderson—guitars, backing vocals
Miki Berenyi—vocals, guitars
Philip King—bass
Produced by:
Pete Bartlett and Lush
Comments:
Lush goes more pop than I'd expected. After only one listen I liked it, but it may be too lightweight for me. My fave stuff by Lush was their very first batch of cd singles. (cjmacs@micronet.net)This is another one where a group I really like has veered in strangely poppy directions. Maybe I just don't like that I can easily understand the lyrics, and many of them are inane. I have a sneaking suspicion at least some of the songs will grow on me. And of course, there is "Childcatcher", my all time favorite Lush song. Although it has this way of ending up on repeat and making it impossible for me to go to class.... (clsriram@phoenix.Princeton.EDU)
The new Lush CD is amazing. (scottz@best.com)
When I first got it I didn't like it, but I gave it more of a chance and two weeks later I like it quite a lot. I wouldn't go so far as to say that "The Childcatcher" is my favorite Lush song, but for me it was the anchor that kept me listening to the CD, it really is good. I still don't like "Single Girl" or "Ciao!" but the rest of the album has really grown on me, even the bad-'60s-pop horns on "I've been here before". The CD is less Cocteau-ish than their first two albums, which is where I think the 'pop' descriptions are coming from, but it's still distinctly Lush. (dbucak@netaxs.com)
More indiepop sounding and less "lush" sounding than any of their previous work but a lot of fun. Not sure I like it as well as some of their previous albums, but it's sure easier to understand what they're saying. The men bashing gets a little old by the end of the album though. (jjhanson@att.net)
My least favorite of their stuff. (burka@jeffrey.net)
Thanks to Juha Sorva for work on this entry.
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