Lush (band)
| Lush | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | London , England |
| Genre (s) | Shoegaze |
| founding | 1988, 2015 |
| resolution | 1998, 2016 |
| Founding members | |
| Meriel Barham (until 1988) | |
Vocals, guitar
|
Miki Berenyi |
Guitar, vocals |
Emma Anderson |
| Steve Rippon (until 1992) | |
| Chris Acland (until 1996) | |
| Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Miki Berenyi |
Guitar, vocals |
Emma Anderson |
bass |
Michael Conroy (2016) |
| former members | |
| Steve Rippon (until 1992) | |
| Chris Acland († 1996) | |
bass |
Phil King (1992-2016) |
Lush was a British band that existed from 1988 to 1998 and briefly reunited in 2015.
history
Lush was founded in London in 1988 by Chris Acland, Emma Anderson, Meriel Barham, Miki Berenyi and Steve Rippon . Meriel Barham (later with the Pale Saints ) left the band before the first studio recordings. In 1989 the music label 4AD signed Lush and released the first EP "Scar" . In 1990 these songs were combined with those of the next two EPs "Mad Love" and "Sweetness And Light" on the compilation "Gala" . After the first album "Spooky" Steve Rippon left the band in 1992 and was replaced by Phil King. In the same year Lush played on the Lollapalooza Festival Tour in the USA .
In 1996 Lush ended their active career after two more albums and the suicide of drummer Chris Acland, only to officially break up in 1998.
In 2015 the other band members reunited with Justin Welch ( Elastica ) as drummer, and announced appearances for 2016. On April 15, 2016 an EP was released with the title "Blind Spot" . Towards the end of the year, the band announced that they would split up again after King left and was replaced at the last concert by Michael Conroy from Modern English .
style
Lush's music was initially assigned to the so-called shoegazing scene by the English music press , a music genre that originated in the early 1990s and was characterized by the combination of melodies typical of pop music , "noisy" guitars and, in some cases, heavily mixed in the background vocals. The first studio album "Spooky" , produced by Cocteau Twins member Robin Guthrie, combined these elements with a very elaborate production, which led to the criticism that the record sounded more like an album by Cocteau Twins. Lush later distanced themselves from Guthrie's mode of production in interviews.
On the following albums "Split" , produced by Mike Hedges (also worked with The Cure , Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Beautiful South , among others ), and "Lovelife" , produced by Lush himself with her live sound engineer Pete Barnett, sat down a more natural, clean style, bringing Lush closer to the Britpop scene. Although not released as a single, “Ciao” from the album “Lovelife”, recorded together with Jarvis Cocker von Pulp , became a big club hit.
The lyrics and music of Lush were mostly written by Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson, but there are also contributions by Chris Acland and Phil King on some single B-sides . In terms of content, interpersonal relationships dominate, but topics such as child abuse or death were also taken up ( "Kiss Chase" and "When I Die" , both included on "Split" ).
Discography
All publications are published by 4AD (German distributor Rough Trade Records ).
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1992 | Spooky |
UK7 (3 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1994 | Split |
UK19 (3 weeks) UK |
US195 (1 week) US |
|
| 1996 | Lovelife |
UK8 (8 weeks) UK |
US189 (1 week) US |
|
more publishments
- 1989: Scar
Compilations
- 1990: Gala
- 1994: Cookie (Japan only)
- 1996: Topolino (1996 in Japan, 1997 in Canada)
- 2001: Ciao! - The Best of Lush
- 2015: Chorus
- 2016: origami
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1990 | Mad Love |
UK55 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
EP
|
| Sweetness And Light Gala |
UK47 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1991 | Black Spring Spooky |
UK43 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
EP
|
| For Love Spooky |
UK35 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1994 | Hypocrite split |
UK52 (3 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Desire Lines Split |
UK63 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1996 | Single girl lovelife |
UK21 (3 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Ladykillers Lovelife |
UK22 (3 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 500 (Shake Baby Shake) Lovelife |
UK21 (3 weeks) UK |
- | ||
more publishments
- 1991: Nothing Natural (only in USA)
- 2016: Blind Spot
- 2016: Live at KCRW - Morning Becomes Eclectic
Promosingles
- 1991: De-Luxe
- 1992: Superblast!
other projects
- Miki Berenyi, the daughter of former actress Yasuko Nagazumi played before Lush at The Bugs and I Goat Fuhrer Five and gave along with Emma Anderson, the punk - Fanzine "Alphabet Soup" out.
- Emma Anderson played for the Rover Girls before Lush . After Lush ended, she founded the Sing-Sing group with Lisa O'Neill .
- Miki Berenyi and Chris Acland recorded the single "And David Seaman Won't Be Very Happy About That ..." for the football fanzine The Spur in 1991 with KJ McKillop and Russell Yates from Moose and Simon Raymonde from the Cocteau Twins .
- Before joining Lush, Phil King was a member of Felt and Biff Bang Pow! . From 1997 to 1998 he played with The Jesus and Mary Chain and has been part of the line-up again since the band's reunion in 2007.
- After leaving in 1992, Steve Rippon wrote the novel "Cold Turkey Sandwich", which was influenced by his experiences with Lush .
- After Lush's brief reunion, Miki Berenyi founded the band Piroshka in 2018 together with KJ McKillop, Justin Welch and Michael Conroy , and in February 2019 they released the first album "Brickbeat" on Bella Union .
Others
- 1992 toured Lush with the Lollapalooza - Festival of North America.
- The titles "Light From A Dead Star" , "Desire Lines" and "Runaway" were used in the soundtrack of the film Joyride .
- The title “Sweetness & Light” was featured in a US commercial for the VW Passat .
- The title "Undertow" was used in a commercial for Levi’s jeans .
- The title "De-Luxe" was included in the video game Rock Band 2 .
