The La's

"There She Goes" really feels like an outlier in this otherwise drab collection of Jangle Pop that feels stuck in its own Doledrums. 3 keepers in 12 (25%). 2 stars.

3.8 It was ok, not my vibe

I get why this is on the list...but it didn't rock my socks

perfectly middle of the road I suppose but I think I could come up with a whole new list of a thousand albums I’d consider essential to listen to before this one

4! Really needed some 90’s today and this fit sooo well what an album!

Favorite Songs: Timeless Melody, There She Goes, Looking Glass

So I Married An Axe Murder is the first time I've heard There She Goes. Fun Fact: they use The Las version & a Boo Radleys cover. So, 2 There She Goeses. Then, of course, the Six Pence None the Richer version which appears everywhere. Between the multiple covers of this ONE song, it has appeared in these movies or show: So I Married An Axe Murder (2x) Parent Trap (the Lohan one) Gilmore Girls Girl, Interrupted Fever Pitch Adventures of Pete & Pete Cold Case And apparently a BBC series named after it. ONE SONG Sometimes that's all you need to be famous. A refreshing throwback to 60s 70s rock a la the Beatles, etc. PETE! PANTS! 3

In my opinion, The La’s are one of the great “what could have been” tragedies of music from the 20th Century. There She Goes is one of the few songs that comes to my mind as a perfect song: its immediate, penetrates the brain, and lives there the rest of your life. Its jangly guitars are like the combination of all the best Byrds riffs, with simple yet mysterious lyrics that evoke so much more than what the sparse words indicate in written form. It’s the perfect song about (heroin?) the obsessive nature of falling in love. The rest of the album is fantastic too. It’s Byrds influence is obvious, but there’s a lot more going on here from psychedelic influences, light new wave, and R.E.M.-esque American rock. In some ways it adds to the mystique of the record that they didn’t really do anything else and seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. It’s not like they died of the overdose before their time (à la Hendrix, Joplin, Cobain) or got tied up in commercial issues (à la Big Star), they apparently just couldn’t get their shit together. The Stone Roses followed a similar path around the same time, but at least they managed to get a second album out. I don’t think this is a perfect album: it’s a really solid album with one perfect song. I like to think a young band that can make one perfect song is capable of making more, so we’re left to wonder what could have been had they figured it out.

The La's julkaisi vain yhden albumin ennen hajoamistaan. There She Goes oli bänfin iso hitti ja myöskin tämän levyn selkeä kohokohta. Muut biisit ovat laadultaan perushyvää keskitasoa, mutta kahden kuuntelun jälkeen eivät oikein jää mieleen.

It's 3.5

They sound like they were going for The Beach Boys meets The Beatles to me. Apart from 'There She Goes' the rest of the album was quite forgettable.

Brilliant. Could be a 5.

Perfect little pop album, too bad they didn't record any other album.

Great record. It’s a shame the band fell apart after this

There She Goes is a banger and incredibly nostalgic, thought this was a one-hit wonder, but it's oddly spread out stylistically somehow simultaneously sounding incredibly 90's and pre-indie rock, but also sounding like it could have been recorded in the 60's. Curious.

Fast jeder Song mit eigenem Wiedererkennungswert

Nothing bad but nothing memorable outside of the hit everyone knows.

- fairly generic .... -

Okay but nothing special

Meh 2/5

Nja, det var väl ok. Kommer inte lyssna igen.

Sån jävla trea

Hade bara hört hiten innan, lite förstörd av att det känns som att den förekommit i 1000 reklamer. Förvånad över hur bra jag tyckte att resten var!

Tralligt

A surprisingly enjoyable album, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. 4/5.

Literally fine. Probably a 2 or 3 but from here now on I’m giving every britpop album a 1

where can we leave reviews for the music critics who made this list? Like why does every mediocre britpop with one hit make the list but George Clinton's Computer Games not make the list?

Maybe at another time I would find this more interesting? It’s not bad, and it’s not monotonous, but it just doesn’t do it for me.

You know back when you bought an album on the strength of one great song and, because it was 1990, you had little means of hearing the rest before purchase, fearing the rest might be absolute trash? Well, the derivative, pub-band’s-own-stuff bilge that fills the rest of this record made my fears all too real. Can’t give it a one as There She Goes is some real lightning-in-a-bottle, so a generous two.

Definitely a tragically hip vibe

worth it very good but not really and standouts yet

Pretty good album, nice acoustic stuff with some pretty memorable songs

*1990. British pop/rock. *I really wanted to love this, as early 90s pop-rock is my jam, but it just wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. *It was a fine, but no standout songs (except obviously There She Goes). *I probably need to give this one another listen. RATING - 6.5/10

I do not remember this band and I’m not sure I remember the hit song from them or the later cover, but I did really like this.

It's fine. One hit from the 90s.

Um. I like it. I’m not at all familiar. If I were familiar, I might like it more. But as it stands? It’s British ✔️ I needed to hear it before I died? 〰️ How do I feel about it? 🤷‍♀️ 3 Boolean: ummmmmmm, true?

I should have liked this more. Spiky short witty songs. Just...not. Something strange going on with voices at the beginning. There She Goes stands out. If this was going to be a good album, they should all have been as good.

N é ruim mas n me causou nenhuma reação

Sounds like Smash Mouth in a most unsavory way

“There She Goes” is an amazing song, the other tracks were solid enough.

Lowkey All By Myself heeft nog wel iets, tot als je de lyrics hoort: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me"??? Cringe final boss. Also buiten There She Goes niet echt memorabele nummers, al moet ik bekennen dat dat misschien valsspelen is aangezien ik het al kende.

The big single is an absolute marvelous song. The others aren't too bad but no other standout tracks to raise the rating for me.

There's a ton of jangle pop bands out there who only had one song that was really worth your time. The La's are just another link in that long lineage; though personally, I've never really liked "There She Goes" all that much. Just not sure what people get from this album that they can't get from like Close Lobsters or the Brilliant Corners or something, honestly?

Solid

Sólo conocía There she goes, y me gustó el resto. Quizás esperaba poco entonces me sorprendió, mirando en retrospectiva al finalizar el álbum por ahí no fue muy wow, pero me gustó. Escucharía algunas de nuevo, y por ahí el álbum también, está bueno para tener de fondo. Musicalizaría muy bien alguna película muy noventosa, onda Scooby Doo.

soso, no auto

Bland - There She Goes is very different from all the other tacks. If the rest had been as good it would be an entirely different story

Gun to my head never would have been able to name who sang "There She Goes' before this. Timeless Melody was pretty good. But the rest of it is pretty standard English rock.

Talk about one-hit wonders.

Pretty decent, but apart from There She Goes not one I'd probably listen to again.

Har fokus på simple melodier og instrumenter, ikke særlig meget polering da sangskriveren og frontfiguren ønskede at det var et tidsløst album. Han var så opslugt af ideen at han blev virkelig perfektionistisk i sådan en grad at produceren/pladeselskabet bare endte med at udgive det uden bandets tilladelse. Det var frontfiguren virkelig sur over, da han ikke syntes det var færdigt, men det er måske noget som bidrager til lyden og historien og netop gør det tidsløst. Det er sådan lidt jangle pop og har attituden af britpop og er lidt en frontløber på den front som jo var en era som udspillede sig nogle år efter hvor det også først blev populært. eneste album bandet udgav, men der er myter om andre numre og sange og hvordan de måske lyder. Det er Merseybeat revival som i 60'ernes beatles og det er også en del af at få det til at lyde tidsløst. Det skulle lyde som om det både kunne være udgivet i 60'erne eller 90'erne. Der er endda en sang om tidsløshed som handler om, at den perfekte sang ikke kan produceres eller laves men at den allerede eksistere derude og bare skal opdages. ellers er der skiffle inspirerede sange og garage pop. Det har jo ikke den der store stadiumlyd som oasis, men de respekterede den britiske accent og holdte det stolt og coolt.

a couple of average songs, but probably wouldn't listen to again

Quand on penche la tête sur la discographie officielle du groupe, on tombe sur une anomalie commerciale et artistique proprement hallucinante. Savez-vous quelle est la plus grande ironie autour de la légende de The La's ? Et bien, le groupe possède aujourd'hui sur le marché infiniment plus de compilations, de bootlegs officieux, de sessions de démos et de live piratés que de véritables albums studio enregistrés lors de leur existence ! Un seul et unique album studio officiel au compteur pour une montagne de compilations sorties par les labels au fil des décennies pour étancher la soif des fans. C'est le paradoxe ultime d'une bande de Scousers qui aura gravé son nom au panthéon de la musique en à peine trente-cinq minutes de bande magnétique. Un petit bijou d'indie pop, un must-have absolu que toute bonne discothèque se doit de posséder sous peine de déchéance auditive. C'est simple, l'unique album éponyme de The La's, sorti en 1990 sur le label Go! Discs, fait partie de la catégorie très fermée des miracles absolus de l'histoire du rock. C'est l'un des meilleurs albums des années 90, et il mérite sans équivoque un immense 5 sur 5. Pour piger le bordel magnifique qu'est ce disque, il faut obligatoirement se pencher sur le cas de son chanteur, guitariste et tête de file : Lee Mavers. Le mec n'était pas simplement un songwriter doué au-dessus de la moyenne. C'était un perfectionniste obsessionnel, un tyran visionnaire et, n'ayons pas peur des mots, un pauvre type complètement siphonné sur les bords quand il s'agissait de toucher à sa musique. Car Lee Mavers ne cherchait pas simplement à enregistrer de bonnes chansons pop destinées à passer à la radio. Il cherchait l'absolu, la pureté originelle, le son brut, chaud et vertigineux des années 60, sans le moindre compromis numérique ou moderne. L'histoire raconte que le mec poussait la démence jusqu'à vérifier la provenance exacte des amplificateurs et des câbles utilisés en studio. Il exigeait du matériel vintage ayant servi dans les années 60, persuadé que la poussière moderne des consoles récentes polluait le grain de ses mélodies ! On touche ici à la folie douce, à cette frontière très fine où le génie artistique bascule gentiment dans la paranoïa la plus totale. Pendant plus de quatre ans, de 1986 à 1990, le groupe va épuiser les nerfs, la santé mentale et le compte en banque de tout ce que le Royaume-Uni compte comme producteurs de renom. John Leckie, Bob Andrews, Mike Hedges... Ils y sont tous passés, les uns après les autres, totalement essorés par les exigences absurdes et changeantes de Mavers. Le leader jetait systématiquement les bandes à la poubelle, enregistrait, réenregistrait, annulait les sessions du jour au lendemain, virait ses musiciens — à l'exception notable du fidèle bassiste John Power — et rendait les dirigeants du label totalement marteaux. On parle de centaines de milliers de livres englouties dans des sessions avortées, pour un groupe qui n'avait toujours pas sorti le moindre long-format. Un vrai cauchemar financier et logistique pour Go! Discs. À un moment donné, la maison de disques a fini par perdre complètement patience. Les années filaient, l'argent s'évaporait, et Mavers continuait de bloquer la sortie sous prétexte que le son manquait de « vie » et d'« authenticité ». C'est là qu'intervient le producteur Steve Lillywhite et le label prend alors une décision radicale et désespérée : il récupère les bandes enregistrées sous la direction de Lillywhite, fait assembler et mixer le tout en douce sans le consentement final du groupe, et balance le disque dans les bacs en octobre 1990. Le résultat est un monument de grâce, mais pour Lee Mavers, c'est un viol artistique pur et simple. La réaction du bonhomme ne s'est pas fait attendre et reste l'une des sorties les plus savoureuses et acides de la presse rock. Interrogé par le NME peu après la sortie du disque, Mavers ne mâche absolument pas ses mots et défonce proprement son propre album. Sa déclaration est entrée directement dans la mythologie du rock : « Je le déteste, c'est le pire. Une pile de merde. Je ne trouve pas une seule bonne chose à en dire. » Il ira même jusqu'à accuser Lillywhite d'avoir lissé leur son, d'avoir trahi l'esprit du groupe et d'avoir gâché ce qui aurait dû être un chef-d'œuvre brut. Mais parlons-en, de cette fameuse « pile de merde » ! Car il faut quand même une sacrée dose de démence pour cracher ainsi sur ce qui s'avère être, pour le reste de l'humanité, un miracle de fraîcheur et de spontanéité. Et alors que le créateur hurlait au scandale et au complot industriel, les critiques et les mélomanes du monde entier tombaient à genoux devant ce disque resplendissant. Lee Mavers pensait avoir pondu un monstre défiguré ; il avait en réalité donné naissance à l'un des plus beaux joyaux de la pop britannique. C'est toute la beauté tragique de cette histoire. Un artiste rongé par sa quête d'un absolu inatteignable qui rejette le disque parfait que tout le monde lui envie. Lillywhite a réussi à capter une magie instantanée que Mavers était en train de détruire à force de vouloir la sur-analyser. Putain, parlons en de cet album. Douze morceaux, trente-cinq minutes montre en main, zéro déchet, zéro remplissage, zéro fioriture inutile. Un album ou on évite soigneusement ici le piège classique des disques des années 90 qui commençaient à s'étirer en longueur jusqu'à l'ennui sous prétexte que le format CD offrait plus de soixante-dix minutes d'espace. The La's va droit au but, enchaînant les bombes pop de deux à trois minutes avec une insolence déconcertante. Sur le plan strictement musical, l'album fait le pont parfait entre la jangle pop ciselée des années 80 (The Smiths, The Housemartins) et le raz-de-marée Britpop qui allait tout balayer sur son passage quelques années plus tard. Il y a dans ce son une énergie brute, une urgence de la rue et une légèreté mélodique étincelante, portées par des guitares acoustiques trépidantes et des lignes de basse bondissantes. Quant à la batterie, elle claque avec un groove sec et organique. Pour éviter de tomber dans le piège de la revue ennuyeuse morceau par morceau, il faut prendre cet album comme un bloc homogène, une traversée fulgurante où chaque titre s'enchaîne de manière fluide et évidente. Tout est à sa place, parfaitement balancé entre légèreté pop et hargne rock. Mais impossible toutefois de faire l'impasse sur le sommet absolu qu'est There She Goes. On tient là, tout simplement, l'une des plus belles chansons pop jamais écrites depuis l'invention du 45 tours. Avec son arpège de guitare lumineux, sa ligne de chant en voix de tête et son crochet mélodique si ravageur qu'il s'imprime instantanément dans votre cerveau pour des semaines, le morceau est une perfection formelle. C'est le genre de titre tellement évident qu'il donne l'impression d'avoir toujours existé. Mais derrière cette apparente romance ensoleillée se cache une ambiguïté tenace qui fait jaser depuis trente-six ans. Chanson d'amour lumineuse adressée à une fille ou ode à peine voilée à l'héroïne (« Racing through my brain... Pulsing through my vein ») ? Le débat fait toujours rage, mais l'histoire devient franchement ironique quand on sait que les studios Disney ont collé ce morceau supposé célébrer les opiacés dans la bande originale du film familial The Parent Trap en 1998 ! C'est le tube pop ultime, connu de tous, même de ceux qui n'ont jamais entendu le nom de The La's. Mais réduire ce disque à son seul tube serait pourtant un crime lèse-majesté. Prenez Son Of A Gun, avec son rythme galopant et sa basse sautillante qui vous mettent une vraie claque d'entrée de jeu. Jetez une oreille à Timeless Melody, qui porte tellement bien son nom avec son groove trépidant et son solo de guitare saturé juste comme il faut. Écoutez l'urgence brute de Feelin', un morceau court, sec et nerveux qui sonne comme un authentique stomp de garage rock à l'ancienne. Et puis, il y a la pièce maîtresse qui vient clore le disque de façon magistrale : Looking Glass. Avec ses presque huit minutes au compteur, ce morceau s'éloigne du format pop ramassé pour s'enfoncer dans une transe psychédélique hypnotique. Les guitares s'enroulent en spirales, la voix de Mavers se fait incantatoire, et le titre monte lentement en puissance pour offrir un final étourdissant. C'est la preuve irréfutable que le groupe n'était pas juste une fabrique de refrains faciles, mais une formation habitée par une vision artistique d'une rare hauteur. Quand on réécoute The La's aujourd'hui, on mesure à quel point ce disque a façonné le paysage musical des décennies suivantes. Car sans l'album de Lee Mavers et de sa bande, le son de la Britpop n'aurait jamais eu le même visage. Noel Gallagher a souvent reconnu l'influence majeure des La's sur son travail, admettant ouvertement s'être inspiré de leur simplicité mélodique et de leur énergie acoustique pour bâtir les premiers anthems d'Oasis. L'impact du groupe s'est aussi vérifié de manière très concrète au sein de son propre line-up. Épuisé par les indécisions et la tyrannie de Mavers, le bassiste John Power finira par claquer la porte peu après la sortie de l'album. Il ira dans la foulée fonder Cast, une formation phare de la Britpop qui décrochera un succès commercial massif au milieu des années 90 en réutilisant précisément la formule guitares/mélodies héritée de l'école The La's. Pendant ce temps, Lee Mavers s'est retiré du monde, s'enfermant dans son mutisme et nourrissant sa propre légende. Quelques apparitions rares et erratiques sur scène au fil des ans, des promesses d'un deuxième album qui n'est jamais venu, des rumeurs de bandes enregistrées dans sa cuisine ou perdues à jamais… Mavers est devenu le Syd Barrett ou le J.D. Salinger de l'indie pop britannique, une ombre mythique planant au-dessus du rock anglais. Beaucoup d'albums des années 90 ont très mal vieilli, floués par des productions datées, des synthés gadgets ou des tics d'époque rapidement indigestes. The La's échappe miraculeusement à tous ces pièges. Grâce à la quête obsessionnelle de Mavers pour la pureté et au travail de mise en forme efficace de Lillywhite, le disque n'a pas pris la moindre ride. Vous pouvez le faire tourner aujourd'hui, il sonne avec la même fraîcheur, la même hargne et la même étincelle qu'à l'automne 1990. C'est un chef-d'œuvre intemporel, une leçon d'écriture pop dispensée en trente-cinq minutes chrono. Chaque titre est une démonstration d'artisanat, où la simplicité apparente cache une précision redoutable. C'est de la guitare pop dans ce qu'elle a de plus noble, de plus spontané et de plus brillant. Si vous aimez le rock indépendant, la pop britannique ou simplement les chansons parfaites, vous devez posséder ce disque. C'est un indispensable absolu, une pièce maîtresse pour n'importe quelle discothèque digne de ce nom. Un album qu'on réécoute sans jamais se lasser, en se disant que Lee Mavers pouvait bien raconter ce qu'il voulait : sa « pile de merde » était en réalité un coup de génie.

Great pop rock fromula with some drops of alternative music Kind to the listener Good for time to relax

👁️🎸🎵✨🕶️

One of England's most peculiar bands happens to be The La's, what could have been if this band decided to put out new music is uncertain to anyone but I think it is hard to deny their magic in a bottle they harnessed for their self titled debut. This album is yet another very early example of Jangle Pop, just 2 years after The Stone Roses pioneered the genre into the mainstream, and also one of the earlier efforts in the growing sound that was Britpop. This album starts off really solid with the first 7 tracks being really solid all around, but then by the end of this 35 minute project it just crumbles in on itself and doesn't know what to do with a majority of the backside of this. It isn't nearly as innovative as The Stone Roses' debut album but it does still help define the genres it lives under. I understand why no one really talks about The La's anymore because they never really had that much going for them outside of their huge hit There She Goes. This is a solid Jangle Pop record that doesn't have too much to say or do once it is done throwing out its' best works in the beginning.

Umm…. It was fine, I guess. I know some people really *really* love this album, but it didn’t do much for me.

It's good!

Simply meh.

2.25

what if the smiths was mediocre

Not bad overall but not my genre

no me gusto pára nada

Some snazzy pop rock songs, but not enough to hook me for repeated listening.

Sometimes it felt very 80's/90's reminding me of REM (Son of a Gun and Way out)and then it would go into 60's/70's vibes (Looking Glass and There She Goes). It was good overall just a weird back and forth in what kind of music I was listening to.

I probably could’ve gone to my grave without hearing this, but it wasn’t bad. It got better as it went along, and I did like how they really rocked out at the end.

Some albums sound simple because they are simple. The La’s sounds simple because an extraordinary amount of imagination and judgement has been used to make it feel inevitable. The songs seem to have been whistled into existence: eminently singable, apparently performable and almost impossible to improve. The prohibitive factor is not musicianship. Plenty of decent players could reproduce the notes. The difficulty lies in having thought of them. That distinction runs through the entire record. The guitars rarely do anything conventionally spectacular, yet they constantly interlock, answer and reshape one another. Acoustic and electric parts mesh so closely that removing any one of them leaves the song perceptibly diminished. “There She Goes” survives perfectly well on one acoustic guitar, but the joy of the record lies in its wildly organised campfire arrangement: the chiming figures, the rhythmic lift and the understated ensemble performance captured by Steve Lillywhite. The same meticulousness is everywhere. “Son of a Gun” has spectral harmonies that deepen an otherwise beautifully direct song. “I Can’t Sleep” uses overlapping voices and a perfectly placed tom thump to give depressive insomnia physical shape. “Dole Drum” turns economic precarity into a jangling dockside blues, complete with resonator guitar, remarkable percussion and a slowdown in which the voices briefly become the arrangement. These are not virtuoso displays. They are acts of virtuoso judgement. Lee Mavers’ lyrics work on several levels at once. They contain recognisable subjects — sleeplessness, escape, dependence, failure, the grinder of making do — but they also function musically. A phrase may remain elusive as prose while being exactly the right set of syllables at that point in the melody. Meaning matters, but so do vowel, consonant, attack and rhythm. The words are part of the percussion. The result is an album that is as obtrusive as the listener wants it to be. It can remain a collection of irresistible, compact guitar songs, or it can reward close attention to every harmony, drum accent and exchange between instruments. Its apparent simplicity is an invitation rather than a limitation. It also occupies a fascinating position in British pop. Behind it are Merseybeat, folk song, the Kinks’ more introspective moments, XTC’s ability to disguise sophistication as pop and Liverpool post-punk. “Liberty Ship” could almost be an Andy Partridge song, while its loping psychedelia anticipates The Coral. The attack and eventual dissolution of “Looking Glass” recall Echo & the Bunnymen’s “Happy Death Men”. This is not revivalism. It is a wonderfully economical form of Merseydelia, built from an entire local and national musical memory. Its shadow falls just as heavily forward. Noel Gallagher must have heard permission to trust a melody absolutely, while Richard Ashcroft heard permission to let repetition become introspection and transcendence. The spacious final passage of “Looking Glass” contains the germ of “Champagne Supernova” and some of The Verve’s more contemplative psychedelia. Oasis made the scale larger, The Verve made it more expansive and The Coral made it stranger, but The La’s had already demonstrated the possibilities. “Looking Glass” is a wonderfully odd way to finish. After half an hour of breathless, economical pop, the album finally sprawls. Mavers enters firm singer-songwriter territory, although it is a kind of singer-songwriter music that could not really have existed before punk and post-punk had stripped away the entitlement to indulgence. The guitars accelerate into a reverb-bathed freakout and the record seems to disappear rather than conclude. It feels as though Mavers is slowly backing out of the room: we can do length if we want to. Goodbye. For all Mavers’ dissatisfaction, Lillywhite captured something remarkably complete: a well-rehearsed band playing with enough space to expose the performance underneath, every texture audible and every choice serving the song. The La’s remains one of British pop’s great simple objects of depth — thirty-five minutes of music whose craft is so thoroughly absorbed that it sounds like nature.

Only ever knew the band through their hit single There She Goes back in the 90’s but really enjoying this. Super catchy melodies and the right amount of British classic pop. Sounds like it’s based mainly in British R&B from the classic era of the 60’s à la Stones, Beatles and Kinks. Almost a 5 but tails off a bit in the second half. 4

Muy lindo :D

Alright alt rock. All of it seems eclipsed by 'there she goes'.

I like timeless melody and liberty ship. Failure is good as well. I did not enjoy looking glass.

Honestly, these reviewers will moan about 'too much Britpop' despite not realising that the very idea of Britpop didn't exist in 1990 and was born out of the influence of bands like The La's and Stone Roses. Then they'll dish out 5s to The Lemonheads, Pearl Jam and every cookie-cutter grunge album that came out between 1989 and 1994. This album is packed with tunes from start to finish, is highly listenable and helped kickstart an entire genre. If you like harmonies or The Bass Guitar, there's plenty for you here just on a cursory listen through. Evan Dando lies awake at night wishing he'd written a song as good as There She Goes.

One hit wonder but possibly the best one hot wonder? The rest of the album is so different to the single everyone knows I had to check I got the right album. Not bad but not memorable at all.

I like short guitar-heavy songs that have a beat, so the La’s’s quasi-sixties thing from the 90s is fine. It isn’t my new favorite record, and is occasionally annoying, but I didn’t start wondering how many more of these songs I was going to have to listen to until about halfway through. I know “There She Goes” from the radio, of course. (Unfortunately I never really liked it. In fact “There She Goes” is kind of irritating.) So ok, “The La’s” is a perfectly fine record with occasional exceptions. As I’ve said about other comparable stuff, these are all competent tracks that would work well in a radio set with other music like this. But as a whole record, it really wasn’t interesting enough to sustain my attention.

#1010. I wonder if they knew that song was going to be used in just about everything teen movie for the next several decades? 3/5: acceptable

La

Had high expectations for this and I wasn't disappointed. Paved the way for Britpop it says here, and that feels about right to me...

Wow. This is not what you think it's going to be if you only know There She Goes. Which is interesting, but ultimately I thought there she goes was the best of the bunch.

Felt kind of repetitive and boring.

Utterly mediocre

Unexpectedly alright. My heart sank a little to see more 90s lukewarm indie rock (I'm on a tough run). But this had a lot of redeeming qualities. There seems to be some decent songwriting at the core. A lot of the presentation is pretty smart - kind of beatlesy in a lot of parts

8/10

Un disco de debut tramposo como el de Stone Roses, pues a pesar de su calidad excepcional, es en realidad una colección de temas trabajados durante varios años. En este caso los de Liverpool, llevaban más de 5 años con ellos, lo que no quita como en el caso de los mancunianos, que este disco es especial, sobre todo porque luego desaparecieron (un poco como Stone Roses). A diferencia de ellos, los LA´s no tuvieron el fulgurante éxito de crítica y público. Sonido jangle pop, calidad desbordante. Su éxito , se podría decir que one hit wonder, fue There she goes. También la luminosa Timeless Melody, pero en realidad cualquier tema es de nivel muy alto.

Better than I remember. I was a bit anti-retro at the time.

This is a new one on me. I’m not super up on my Brit-rock, I confess. But let’s have a listen: Ooh I like these hurky-jurky riffs. Lots of stuff going on in the background. Groovy. I like the singer. There’s a nice balance of croon and growl. It’s very Kinks-y. Very Jam-ish. Stone Roses? Ohhhh, this is the band that does ‘There She Goes’. If I’m being vulnerable I’ve always liked this song. Big desperate anime smile. I appreciate how short the songs are. Not in a bad way. In a Buddy Holly and the Crickets way. Yeah I dig that dry-riffing acoustic a lot. Mix is great, too. Little bit of Gogol Bordello in ‘Freedom Song’. Welcomed. Yeah this was a fun chunk of scrappy chunky punky pop with that reliable working class British snarl.

Wow what a great album. I know "There She Goes" but it is really good all the way through. Shoutout to the emotional pre Oasis bop of "Looking Glass" 5/5- as this is my first listen and really blew me away.

Enjoyment: 4/10 Replayability: 3/10 Cohesion: 2/10 Flow/Pacing: 3/10 Artistic Merit: 1/10 Weighted Average: 2.9/10 Review: This album felt entirely inconsequential. I am the same person I was before listening to it as I am after, and I could've gone the rest of my life without ever needing to. The tracks were all just generic 90s pop that hold little merit to be on the "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" list. Nothing sounds outright awful, I just think its accolades are undeserved. Liked Song(s): Son Of A Gun, Liberty Ship, There She Goes, Looking Glass Disliked Song(s): Doledrum, Way Out, Freedom Song, Failure Recommend? No Heard Before? Partly

Loved this album the first time round. Still love it.

There She Goes is a catchy pop song, instantly familiar and the calling card of The La's. I was much less familiar with the rest of the album. It's an enjoyable collection of tunes.

I bought this album off the back of “there she goes” and there has always been a feeling for me that the la’s were one hit wonders

Surprising how too much melodic, jangly, pop can start to stick in the craw after a while. 3*

The album is fine, but they're one-hit wonders for a reason

Generally uninspiring Another example of an album that seems to be on the list because of a killer track. It really can’t carry the whole album, and there’s some pretty ropey stuff on there, particularly towards the end of the second side. Not horrible, but I can’t imagine ever listening again

Solid

Very enjoyable - had never heard of this band before, although I knew There She Goes. Very solid 8/10.

This album includes some real pop bangers like There she goes and Timeless melody, but the rest of the album don't quite reach the same heights. Solid enjoyable pop record anyway!

I admit, I wasn't paying good attention to this album. While listening I noticed a thought that why this R.E.M album sounds this folky. That good of a record this was for me.

#432 / 1089 Heard before? ❌ Revisit? ❌ I had heard of the band, but not the music, except for 'There She Goes' obviously. Very R.E.M. sounding stuff, maybe with a bit more bite, which is a really good thing in my books. On the other hand there's some bits I associate with U2 and all that lame shit, which weighs heavy. It's not offensive, but it is quite... meaningless. Light 3, bending towards 2/5

Couple familiar tunes

I liked this more than I thought I would. Not something I'll likely pull up regularly, but every now and then on a chill afternoon or something I could see myself listening to it.

This was a great album! Ironically Failure was probably my favorite

Not a bad album but it did regrettably influence a lot of mediocre bands that followed. It doesn't have any exciting edginess to it, very safe, a little working class social commentary on it nonetheless but otherwise bland. I do like John Power though and his vocals are the best thing on this album. His latest work with Cast is much better.

Prima

A really enjoyable album, if you didn't know better you'd think it came out during the 90s Britpop wave, instead this might be the album that inspired it. A solid 3.75* rounded up to 4*

Feels like the Talking Heads wore flannel but we're also a Beatles cover band. Not a bad listen, there's some fun stuff on here.

I saw the name... name was familiar ... there was a song I knew of them,,, then it popped up - "There She Goes" - and it all clicked. Enjoyed hearing some other songs from The La's,

One hit wonder.

pleasant

647/1001 2026.06.30 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

It's actually crazy that this album is the one with There She Goes. It's got a vibe like it was recorded in the 60s but was ahead of it's time, I was actually really surprised to see that it came out in the 90s

Blah. One hit wonders, how did this make the list

One incredible song and some decent stuff.

This was a very pleasant, unexpected surprise. I loved the retro feel. Other than “There She Goes” I was not familiar with the band.

There she goes is the only really good song on here, the rest are kind of mid

Knew a few songs but don’t think I’d listen again

I really enjoyed this album some well written pop tunes. Reminded me of the 60s

The La's one hit wonder. Why is this here

7.5/10

Cool 80’s sound. Solid music

I would've sworn this was REM, and I don't mean that as a compliment.

Thereeee sheeee goooooooooes

Every song seemed to remind me of a different band. Liberty Ship was straight up Kinks. The first track made me think R.E.M. Others were more Beatles. All solid, and they did bring their own sound. I'd have liked to have seen them back in the day.

Never listened to the whole album, in fact I’ve only ever heard that one song. Enjoyable enough but I can see why they only made the one album.

Feelin' and Doledrum weren't my faves but I saved several tracks. Oddly and for no justifiable reason I thoroughly enjoyed this album....twice. It was easy and free of anything ostentatious....not pretending to be anything other than ok vocals and good mixing.

Meh. Forgettable except for the one obnoxious single. Enough with the Britpop already.

7/10

4/5

So many hooks, so many melodies, yet this album falls completely flat for me. Even "there she goes" gets tiresome in context of the lp. Pass.

A case where one done is so good, pure perfection, that it outshines the rest of the record

a couple great songs but otherwise pretty unremarkable

Great proto-britpop, coming out years before Oasis, Blur or even the Stone Roses did. Whilst none of it does sounds particularly innovatoive with a 2026 ear, the songs and tunes are pretty timeless - the Sixpence None the Richer cover of There She Goes amplifies this for me. Lee Maver's voice doesn't really do much for me, and I'm not entirely convinced the music landscape would be any different had the La's made any follow-up work, but they;re pretty remarkable as a one-album wonder

Just kind of boneless TBH. Not my jam, just a bit boring. Ended up becoming background music pretty quickly, and nothing ever jumped out to me. 2/5 stars.

ok, I guess, There She Goes is ok,

Decent, snappy, didn't change my life.

Not sure how this got past me. Incredible early jangle pop album that influenced so many other artists I would love in the following decade. This will get played many more times.

I like it a lot as an album, definitely would relisten but mo song stands out

1. gun - 1 2. zleep - 1 3. melody - 1 4. zhip - 1 5. goez - 1 6. drum - 2 7. feeling - 0 8. uuay - 0 9. i . o . u . - 1 10. zong - 1 11. failure - 1 12. glazz - 1 13. myzelf - 2 14. clean - 1 15. knock - 0 16. over - 1

I might have heard the band's name eventually. I certainly know There She Goes. The album seems influential enough for many other bands on this list that it has earned its place. It was a nice listen, nothing groundbreaking, but I can see the uniqueness and novelty of their sound.

I didn't know anything about this band or this album, but I really enjoyed listening to this.

Podľa mňa vynikajúci album. Mám rád hlas a výslovnosť speváka. To, ako pripomína 60-te roky, je urobené skvelo, baví ma to.

"La" is the sound you make when you can't remember a tune and you try to hum it, which means it wasn't that memorable. That goes the same for this one as well. Boring and bland.

A sneaky good album. If the Pixies came from the UK, they would sound something like this.

Svona ágæt inn á milli, hæðirnar ekki nógu háar og lægðirnar nokkuð lágar.

Þetta var einmitt svona La La. Fyrir utan smellinn ekki mikið að gerast.

light 3.5. Achei um pouco repetitivo

THERE SHE GOES TODA

hmm grax por nada Freedom song, no existe hasta ahora, ninguna canción q tenga esa cadencia que me pueda gustar 😭 Igual le voa dar 5 porque There she goes es demasiado perfecta

Súper infravalorado. Para mí es un cinco. Espero que le den una oportunidad a esta joyita

It was just an average pop album. Nothing really special about it. It’s on the list because this was the only album recorded by this band. So, I think people were wondering what would have happened if The La’s released more albums. Would they have been better than this one or worse?

There She Goes is catchy, but sadly far and away the best thing on this album.

More like the Blah's.

One famous does not a bucket list album Make.

Solid

Vraiment sympa !! There She Goes et Feelin' gros bangers

Nice and jangly, good tunes.

I hadn't heard of the band before. I knew the song "There She Goes" and had always liked it. I liked the rest of the music pretty well, too. There was just one song that got on my nerves so much I stopped listening to it. All in all, it's not a bad album, but it doesn't really interest me. 3/5

Without this there would be a lot of what we hear today.

This has a very underground feel to it. Like an album that is your favourite band's favourite album. Or like those limited releases or small shows where everybody who listened to it started a band. It sounds like that. I mean it seems like they disintegrated after one album, so it has be one of THOSE bands. Lots of the album has has punk rock-lengthed songs, only deviation from that is the slow-burner 7-nearly-8 minute long song at the end. Even though a lot can be described musically as jangle-pop, the mentality is clearly punk. I mean the idea of this was rejecting contemporary British rock and going back to 60s British rock, so it has inherent punk qualities. One last thing that stands out to me, is that the singer sounds like Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) combined with a bit of Liam Gallagher's (Oasis) rasp. I know Oasis was influenced by this band, so saying the La's sound like Oasis is a bit weird, but I can't think of another singer with a similar rasp at this point. I would say it has earned it's place on this huge list. Highlight Song/s: "I Can't Sleep" and "There She Goes"

Like I said in our group chat, it turns out I might have an affinity for 90s to mid 2000s indie rock. This is easily one of the best 90s albums we've heard in my opinion. It didn't sound very dated at all, which is more than many others could say. I mostly enjoyed the singing, especially on"There She Goes," which was a very pretty and catchy song. There was a lot of variety, and the instrumentation was well executed. For me this sits somewhere on the edge between three and four.

High 3 or a low 4. More Brit bias, although this one is better than most, and furthermore is a band I've long been (somewhat) curious about, so glad for a chance to listen to this album. Pretty much only know them because of the great "There She Goes," which was played (still is) on WXRT (although I realize I also occasionally hear the good but not great "Feelin," too), and which is on an excellent collection of power pop that I have -- leads off that CD, in fact. (Power pop was/is one of my favorite genres, esp. when I was around your ages - which was also my age when this album came out.) I think I'll give this one a (low) 4 stars. Pretty good overall quality and variety, even though nothing else is nearly as good as the excellent "There She Goes." The long closing track is good, too, though, and all of the songs were pretty good, as far as I can recall (if not super memorable). I noted that it was produced by Steve Lillywhite, who has produced a LOT of records for many "new wave" (and other beyond) artists I've enjoyed, over the years. Apparently, this was the only album The La's ever made.

"There She Goes" is the only song that really appeals to me. A couple others started to be intriguing but didn't quite satisfy. I don't like the vocalist and the genre either, I guess I thought they said "there's no harm increasing your neighbor's lawn" I also liked "on this street for knowledge, you must eat your porridge" brilliant stuff

Decent alt-pop, but nothing I would run tell my friends, “you’ve GOT to hear this,” outside the context of this project.

This is a 3.5. But, since there are no others like it on this list and it was pleasant to listen to, I’ll round up.

- I only really know the hits from this band, especially There She Goes - it was always the last song they would play at the bar before kicking everyone out, lol. - My other faves on here are I Can't Sleep, Feelin', and Way Out. - Some of the songs don't fully hit for me, but overall, I really like the jangly pop feeling of it all. - For the most part, I also like the vocal affectations. It's obvious The La's influenced a ton of bands... - The album is nice and short, but I do get kind of over it about 3/4 of the way through.

A little gay but okay

3,5

Big fan of an album full of 2 1/2 minute catchy-as-hell songs. You can really hear their influence on the British pop-rock bands to come. Masterpiece? Hmmm, maybe not so much, but I do see and hear its influential impact in music at the time and to come.

Hmmm don't know why this is listed here. Some nice tunes, but not really an album which listen as a whole. Only the longer Looking Glass builds up to something. 2/5

Good

I was worried that this album would be a one hit album, at first I felt like i was wrong as the first half of the album actually had some good songs in it. However the second half of the album was just meh. Overall even with 'There she goes' the album is just a 3 star for me.

Really good, started out sounding like REM, then more acoustic northey venezuala vibes. "There she goes" was obviously a huge hit, but other solid tunes abound. Sprawling, this is a real album.

There She Goes is indeed a bop. The rest is wildly pedestrian.

Solid

Great

there she Goeess

Disappointed

mid

The La's may well have influenced other bands like Oasis but that does not make them any better than an average band with this average album

[Already rated. Original review:] One great song, a couple of other good ones.

Jangley! I remember The La’s from their hit Here She Comes, and always thought of them as a one hit wonder band. Could not have named another song by them. And it turns out that’s one of the weaker songs of the album. Upbeat songs with lots of variety, a hint of The Beatles and the humor of The Kinks. Timeless Melody and Failure are the top tracks, but they’re all good. Will be listening to this album again. (5.0*s) Open your mind.

For a one-hit wonder band, this debut is not half bad. "There She Goes" is actually the worst song. The rest of the album is more gritty, less wimpy pop. "Liberty Ship" takes top slot. I'd be willing to give their other records a listen. 2.73 stars for a pretty good one but lame band name.

Overall not a bad package. Some relatively quick alt rock Britpop fusion tunes. The La's released some mostly upbeat songs while coloring a little outside the lines to give it a little extra pizzazz. I wouldn't say there are any standout tracks, but I also wouldn't say there any aspects to complain about as all the songs are pretty good. There She Goes was the only one I was previously familiar with and seems like their biggest hit but I'd put quite a few couple others from the album above it. Simply put, The La's figured out what they were doing and were pretty effective at assembling an off the beaten path album from start to finish. Pretty crazy this is their only release as it seems they could have kept this going. Maybe the band name of The La's was enough to have the member want to disband? It's a good call to list this as a "one-album wonder" as it really seems like a pretty big what-if if these guys had stuck with it. I can see why this would be cited as influential for British acts that came in their wake. Nice entry for 1001. 3.04 stars

6/10 It's ok. I like it better than when I gobiught it 30years go, where the disappointment of the tracks that weren't 'There She Goes', was very strong. Those tracks are super-Scouse - tuneful, but never very exciting. The lead singer's demands for perfection sucked the life out of them

There she goes and the last track, are absolute bangers. the rest, passed over me like waves of forgetting

I generally am down with 90s alt rock but this album was just really dull. I’ve also heard There She Goes so many times in shows and movies that I can’t really approach it as a normal song so it can’t save this album

Completely fine British indie rock. Couple catchy songs, but just doesn’t feel essential. I feel like I’ve heard this record a couple times on this list already. 3/5

Really pleasant album to listen through. Its easy to have on in the background while still bopping along without thinking about it. While there are some stand out songs even the "worse" songs are good, the albums quality floor is really high. It feels kind of sad that the band only got one album and disappeared when they make music like this.

Perhaps included as an early britpop foundational influence. I liked the jangly upbeat feel of it, better than some our recent offerings imo

5 star song wrapped by some pretty forgettable ones. 2.5 rounded up

The only album from this obscure English band, this one has the hit “There She Goes”, which was popular when remade later by Sixpence None the Richer. Otherwise, nothing on the album was especially good, but not bad either.

A pretty low-rent album cover here. You might wonder which I like better, this original 'There She Goes' or the more popular-in-the-US cover by Sixpence None The Richer. In fact, I like them equally well, and to be honest I can barely distinguish them! This is a solid Britpop album, and all the more so because it apparently came out "4 years before the start of Britpop". If you say so, Wiki. Definitely a little ahead of its time, but ultimately just a decent album. Highlights: 'There She Goes', 'Way Out'

Oh man. Yet another album seemingly entered based on the strength of a single. It certainly does not sustain the record and it would seem like a flash of luck produced that one gem. The rest of it easily disappears into the morass of shiny, overly smoothed out college rock of the time.

Brittipopin määrä tällä listalla on ihan tolkuton. Ainoa selitys lienee, että isohko osa listan laatijoista on brittikriitikoita, jotka pitävät 1980- ja 1990-lukujen oman saarensa poppiksesta. Tämän albumin oleminen listalla ei selity millään muulla. There she goes -biisin on kuullut jokainen. Eikä sekään ole hyvä biisi vaikka hitti ysärillä onkin. Täyttä roskaa 35 min verran. 1/5

Oh man had no idea the original was a dude. Anyway catchy pop rock and the big hit holds up, is definitely also the best song, easy

Muy interesante. No lo conocía

The La’s - The La’s - 3/5 Nothing overly impressive for me personally here, but the fact that this album came out in 1990 is actually pretty surprising. Based on that timeline, they are absolutely one of the true progenitors of the 90s Britpop wave. "There She Goes" is the only song I know on the tracklist. I always figured it was a mid-to-late 90s song. Maybe that Sixpence None The Richer cover blurred that timeline for me? I always associate the original with Tal Bachmann for some reason. Aside from the big hit, the rest of the album feels a bit bare-bones. It’s a decent piece of music history, but not something I see myself going back to.

Was nice!

I know a single song from this band, and that’s because of movies. If you had asked who the band was behind the song, I would have never guessed it. This album kind of showed me why this is. Outside of “There She Goes”, the rest of this album is bland and boring. I finally hit the stop button when the lead singer on another song sang “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”.... Like seriously dude, that childhood retort is what you came up with as lyrical content? Just a waste of a chunk of my morning.

Has all the best tendencies of britpop (great melodies, variety) without the long runtime. Plus, I kept imagining Paddy the Baddy finishing every sentence with "La'." 4.5/5.0: Excellent

a few really good songs mixed in with some ok pop rock

Such a 90’s time capsule. Great British pop prior to the Oasis onslaught. Adorable.

I really liked a few of the songs but overall pretty basic.

The feminine urge to give every rock album a 4 shall not prevail today. This record falls into the same category as the Supergrass record, in that its something I have never heard of containing a song that I have heard a million times. As I tend to always find the case, the more psychedelic the tracks, the more I enjoyed them. I earnestly liked nearly every track, with the exception of Freedom Song and Failure, which I found tiresome. I found that the rest of the tracklist was very similar in terms of aesthetic, while managing to explore many different faces of that aesthetic. Will probably be returning to this one. Standout Tracks: The first five tracks are the best in the album, IMO Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️ (The ✨️ is worth half a star)

This project really has a habit of finding a band or album that has like ONE good song and going "you need to listen to the whole album now" and then the album is just trash aside from the one song that everybody already knows

Do you like the hit single "There She Goes"? Do you have 53 minutes of nothing else to do? Check it out. This album is a perfectly fine collection of British Folk-Rock songs, though they aren't breaking any ground vs acts from the 60s. One hit wonder's albums should be removed from this list.

To me this album is pretty damn perfect. I love every song and it has such unique production. It sounds very scrappy but if you listen closely there are layers and layers of well arranged guitar parts. A great album

Not sure I liked this one as much as Gideon unfortch but it’s still great! The last song is an awesome closer and the album as a whole has an awesome unique sound.

Alternative rock, jangle pop, Britpop, skiffle, folk rock.

Tirando aquela

Imagine the Beatles mixed with the smiths Now imagine the Beatles and the smiths sucked

2.5 There’s a couple good tunes, and obviously “There She Goes” is iconic, but this is mostly just a warmed over Rolling Stone impression that has no place on a list like this!

A valuable album for its role helping to generate the Britpop era, but in itself a set of fun 60s riff offs. The highlight is Looking Glass, where they almost break free. The better Elastica & Sleeper were to follow shortly after.

++: I Can't Sleep, Liberty Ship, Doledrum, I.O.U., Failure +: Son of a Gun, Feelin', Way Out, Looking Glass +-: There She Goes, Freedom Song -: Timeless Melody 7,0/10

Iconic 90s. 8/10

Good ideas not explored to their full potential.

Mid

There She Goes doesn't fit in on this. The album would have worked better as a more coherent whole without it.

As good as I remember it. Easy 5. Lots of catchy and melodic songs

15/05/26 começou interessante enjoou em 44 seg seria interessante ouvir isso em uma viagem de carro, estando meio completativo e vendo uma paisagem natural e só nisso, pq é bem enjoativo vamos ver quantas eu aguento essa segunda tem guitarra pika é menos enjoante, bem pika na real, mas vai enjoar rápido pq a banda se repete vocalmente e sonoricamente de forma chata dentro de uma única faixa e tematicamente tbm, o título se repete muito e isso incomoda timeless melody vai ter o nome na música, já teve melody embora essa esteja a mais gostosinha até agora só teve melody umas 500 vezes, mas n enjoou enfim, não é algo que vai se manter todas as músicas começam e terminam do mesmo jeito o começo é a melodia solo base e o fim é uma repetição vocal do refrão um 3/5 / 6/10 bem redondinho, legal o suficiente para se ouvir entediado mas outras opções dentro do mesmo gênero e estilo se sobressaem mais

I like this one. I had only heard There She Goes before, and thought the other songs would sound alike. That's not the case. I could get into them deeper with more listens. 4/5

Quite amusing

Heavily inspired 60's Brit rock/pop, Beatles, Kinks, The Who, etc, and jangled it up. You can hear their influence on the second British invasion bands, Oasis, Blur, blah blah blah. Album has about 4 really interesting songs, the rest are okay. It isn't bad but something I would just stream

Довольно скучный альбом гитарной поп-музыки. Пара интересных треков есть, но в общем, довольно монотонный и унылый поп-рок.

A belated review for an album that took me by surprise. Up until now I thought The La’s were victims of the one-hit-wonder phenomenon with the anthem of There She Goes. As the generator brought this album up for me, I thought hey at least there’s that feel good song that arguably all women love. But to my pleasant surprise, this album has variety!!!! It reminds me of REM, the Smiths, Simon and Garfunkel, Beatles, some influence of psychedelic rock, at times some of the early 50s jive rock. That’s to say, very enjoyable, although perhaps not revolutionary. Again, an album I’ll be coming back to, probably when I’m dancing around my kitchen.

2.75

While listening to this album, I came across this quote: "Mavers is now considered by many to be one of pop's great "lost" figures" by Shaun Curran. The only song I'd heard prior to listening to this was There She Goes, and after reading more about Mavers and the band, I can't help but wonder what else they could've come out with had they not split when they did.

This is a great album. Much underrated. Beatles-influenced but with its own swing.

Very nice Brit pop music from the early phase.

4/10 1 banger

It might not be the most exciting thing I’ve ever heard but goddamnit I liked it. Sure it’s a bit derivative. Hearing a lot of The Who and The Beatles. But it was good fun pop rock song writing.

Noel Gallagher said that Oasis’ mission was "to finish what The La's started”. Until today I only knew The La’s from “There She Goes”, and listening to the rest of this album, it's not the best representation of them at all. They're a lot grittier and more raw than their biggest hit indicates. Not that it's a bad song, but I'm very (happily) surprised by the sound of the rest of the album. Just compare “There She Goes” to the song that follows directly afterwards, “Doledrum” (possibly my favourite song on the album). Proper early-Beatles acoustic guitar mixed with Kinks style riffs? Yes please. Throughout this album, I hear The Kinks in every song. I also hear a lot of the Beatles’ influence (particularly in songs like “Feelin’”). But along with the influence the 60s brought to The La’s, I can also hear their downstream influence. I hear snippets of Liam Gallagher’s voice (especially in “Way Out”) and the building blocks of Noel’s rhythm guitar in most songs. Say what you like about Britpop, but I grew up with it and loved it. It introduced me to a whole spectrum that makes up the majority of the music I love today, from the likes of The Beatles and The Stones to more contemporary bands like The Beta Band and Beck. I somehow never knew how influential The La’s were to the whole Britpop movement, but hearing this album feels like finding that last jigsaw piece that had been lodged in the corner of the box all this time.

Why is this on this list?

Derivative bad, just too mediocre to justify its existence. This does not need to be on this list. My least favorite thing about this project is the clear bias towards mid-at-best 70s/80s/90s British rock. Unfortunately another Dexy’s situation. The La’s but no Discovery? 3.5/10

brilliant album. i wish i would have found this 15 years ago

Nothing special, nothing bad

Beigest album to ever beige.

The Bla’s Feels like an REM album but perhaps more aimless and less cohesive. There’s a lot of filler, and it’s propped up by one huge single “there she goes”. I did like “failure” off the back half. ⭐️⭐️

A very deserving inclusion on this list, I don't care what the haters say. I mean, it's absolute pop perfection! Short and sweet with great writing start to finish. Shame they only ever had the one album

Very enjoyable album! I liked it more than I expected. ‘There She Goes’ is a classic and obviously the highlight, but I liked a few of the others as well. Top Songs: There She Goes, Timeless Melody, Freedom Song, Looking Glass

I liked this! They have a fun and unique style.

4 Stars (11/15)

I wish this wasn't their only album. At least their discography is near perfect this way. Favourite track: I Can't Sleep

This album is really enjoyable. I've loved listening to it. There are some nice songs, nice melodies. What else can I ask for? There is also some variety too. Although, honestly, nothing really sticks in me. As much, some songs that I've truly loved. However, overall, it's just a bunch of songs that come and go, very volatile. They enter, last a few minutes, and end. Yes, the album flows so quickly, and there are pretty good tracks, but at times it didn't feel like listening to an album. Some songs start as they end, and, honestly, I've liked listening to it, but I don't feel like most of the songs have been interesting. For sure, I see the potential here, and this album could have been much better... just that it hasn't been more. And with more I mean I feel this album isn't developed. It lacks of more consistent stuff. Not just short tracks that don't go anywhere and a last song that is enlarged until it becomes bland and meaningless. So, there are some not that nice things here but, overall, it's a pretty decent album.

there she gooooooes thhhereee sheee goooes

Alright

ok 2.5 I guess not super fan bu tok

Monsterhiten "There she goes" kommer midtveis. Koselig nok album ellers.

It was okay! Very vibesly

Love There She Goes, the rest is just ok

music is love

The single has stood the test of time, but, this band feels like a one-hit wonder. The single stands out so much more than the rest of the album.

Jingly jangly, easy-going britpop. Pretty fun listen but probably a tad too long. TIL these guys originally did "There She Goes", not Sixpence

Probably closer to 3.5 but much better than I was expecting. Very 90’s.

Ok I guess. Is it like "la" or "L.A."? 🤔

Не вывожу целый альбом, отдельные синглы свое сыростью могут забрать

There she goes is not a song I expected to hear from this group. For album from 1990 that song sound like the most 1996 thing ever. Overall this was pretty ok. It definitely has a mid 90s sound probably produced in 89.

90s UK Indie Pop. Super upbeat, fun rock with a hint of 60s flavour.

There's two or three singles on here that I could agree are must-listens. The rest of the album isn't something I can find myself recommending easily. Is that enough to make it onto this list, or am I just unimpressed by this record's influence? I'm actually glad I listened to it, just to hear There She Goes and understand its context. 3.2/5

"There She Goes" is the single that makes this album notable.

Scattered but pretty good overall. Looking Glass was an amazing choice to end the album, way to go out with a bang!

Lots of influence from Americana r&b and rock n roll

britpop mit 60er-flair, one-hit-wonder.

Die besseren Beatles mit einem bekannten Song.

There’s no way this is from 1990. I thought I was listening to a late ‘60s - early ‘70s pop band with Americana/folk vibes. Like the Monkees (complimentary!) Frankly a little eerie. But the songs are fun and catchy as hell. I will listen again for sure. I do think “There She Goes” is one of the weaker tracks. It doesn’t really take off. Sixpence does it better. But anyway, nobody was doing this particular sound in the late 80s - early 90s. Tricky!

I listened to this CD on repeat in high school. So happy to revisit it in its entirety. Nothing complicated about the music… just catchy as hell and so melodic. A great one album phenom.

Fun album

A lovely piece of skiffle. Shame it's their only album. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

I’m higher than a 5. The only track I knew going into this was “There She Goes”, as it’s just sort of a ubiquitous track that everyone’s encountered at some point or another. It’s just a remarkably simple track; find a couple lines, hit a good guitar rhythm, and just sing it like you’re talking to someone you’re in love with. At its core, it’s a fundamentally sound track that just knows exactly what to do to keep everyone involved engaged. The singer gets to have fun, the guitar work is easy to learn & fun to build upon, and for the listener, whether they’re the one being sung to or just someone casually enjoying it, it’s got its own delights in one way or another. This entire album follows that “fundamentally sound” nature to a really nice extreme, and one that really works for me. By “extreme”, I simply mean this album’s execution is tight as fuck, both in the cool way & the literal way. There’s not really many wasted vocals, lines or riffs here, & when this album needs to turn itself up, it nails it behind some consistent & strong percussion. It’s an album that’s so technically sound that it’s kinda easy to just take it for granted & hear it as plain or boring. I think that’s a somewhat valid take if you’re not listening with intent or find some of the rhythms a bit repetitive, but it undermines just how crafted this thing is from start to finish. It feels like a natural update of the ‘60s soundscape with contemporary sensibilities, one that loosely predates Britpop & yet sits in more of an R.E.M.-adjacent space. Each track is a bit rhythmically repetitive at points, but it stayed engaging because of everything surrounding it, at least for me. I’m just full of praise, really. The pacing of this album flows really nicely, with only 1 track going past 3 minutes (the last one, which uses all 8 minutes effectively), and I just kind of appreciate an album that’s willing to not waste too much time. Past that, I think these are smartly written, able to set up the premise of each track without it feeling hamfisted or forced. Realistically, I’m just stuck thinking about yesterday’s album, “H.M.S. Fable”, & how utterly devoid of warmth it felt compared to this album. Even on the one track here utilizing a wall of sound, the guitar work & vocals aren’t drenched in reverb, so it all retains a natural tone to it. “H.M.S. Fable”, despite being 9 years later, felt artificial & overproduced, yet this album, despite the technical prowess surrounding it, just feels warmer & more authentic. It’s striking for 1990, especially without a single drum machine in here. It’s genuinely just a charming album to me that hits all the right notes, figuratively & literally. Am I praising it a little much just because yesterday’s album was a resounding “eh”? Maybe, but I do stand by enjoying every track here. If nothing else, I can understand why Liam Gallagher is quoted as saying “Oasis want to finish what The La's started”, as what’s here does feel like a super fruitful tree of influence towards bands in the Britpop space & beyond. I really do think it’s higher than a 5, though not quite a 10. It’s certainly close, though. I’m very glad it’s on the list. P.S.: For a band called “the La’s”, it’s surprising that they didn’t say “La” until the 5 minute mark of the last track.

I've seen this cover while flicking through the book. Never heard of this artist before, but I think it's pretty obvious that this is going to be a 90s alt rock album. Might as well just get into it. Pharrkkkk. Another British jangle pop album, though I suppose that genre description isn't entirely accurate. This is a bit of a strange in-between of jangle pop and the emergent alt-rock stylings of the time. I suppose that's how Britpop came to be, though I've never thought of it like that before. We're learning things on the thousandty-eighty-nine albums website. Anyways, this is alright. Can't say I'm an enthusiast when it comes to this make of album, but it carries itself quite well. The 90s guitars are quite good and are surprisingly ahead of the curb. There's a dynamism and illustrious sound to em which wouldn't fully manifest in the genre until five or so years after the release of this album. The songwriting can be a bit of a mixed bag, but when it lands it's quite good with some dynamic vocal hooks. The jangle pop acoustic guitars still sound stiff and stale to be, but they're fortunately elevated by the material surrounding them. While I respect the runtime of this album, I did think many of the tracks were a little short-winded, passing by me without much notice. Overall, this was a solid album. I'm not rushing to give this a relisten, though part of me does want to get to know it a little better. I've heard "There She Goes". Not sure where, however. Most likely through my Dad's music library, but I don't think it's his style. Anyways, the song is pretty alright. I appreciate the songwriting during the chorus, and the jangle pop sound is much more refined than what I'm used to. The guitars are layered for a change and there's more of a dynamic interplay between the chord progressions. I like the kick that the electric guitars have during the chorus, too. The vocals sound a hell of a lot like The Smashing Pumpkins at points, though I suppose these guys were the ones that were ahead of the curb. Not that it bothers me - the vocals are quite decent. Overall, a solid tune. Book time. "There She Goes" is considered by the curator of this album to be one of the best songs of the 90s. Bold claim. It was also the band's first and only release. The frontman was a perfectionist, with it taking over four years for this album to release after cycling through an innumerable number of a producers. Wikipedia says this album got in on the ground floor of Britpop and influenced many acts, notably Oasis and Arctic Monkeys. It was also warmly received by critics, but had unremarkable chart success. The zealotry that this list has for Britpop music will never cease to be amusing to me, though I suppose I can't fault a little patriotism. I'm pretty sure the seminal Britpop releases I've listened to thus far are relegated to only The Stone Roses and Suede. The number of foundational Britpop albums are beginning to get a little oversaturated for what this genre is, though I guess I'm not opposed to this album - the points I've laid out are solid. I cosign this inclusion.

Sparkling indie pop, desperate to find the magic dust from 1964

You could tell me that this was early REM and I’d believe you. This could also be a Stones rip off. Which is a better selling point in my opinion. So this album gets put on here because of one song from a spree of 90’s and early 2000’s movies? Got it.

I think “There She Goes” is one of the greatest pop songs of all time. I feel the same about A-ha’s “Take on Me” but tried not to compare all the songs on A-ha‘s album on this list to their big hit. But I’m having a hard time not doing that with the La’s. These songs are fine but I know this band can be great and it is frustrating that they never captured that lightning in a bottle again. I don’t think it is fair but I am judging them more harshly than I would otherwise because they had one truly incredible song. This album just pales in comparison.

2.8

A worthy place in the canon of Scouse folksy-psych-indie-pop; post-Bunnymen, pre-Coral. Interesting as one of those records which, although genuinely solid overall, really staggers under the weight of its smash hit single. In fact I'd say the La's' whole career was overshadowed by There She Goes.

El álbum (The La’s ) tiene un par de melodías agradables que se quedan en la cabeza. Aun así, en general no fue un disco que llegara a encantarme, en parte porque el estilo no es de mis favoritos. Puedo apreciar el valor que tiene dentro de su género y entiendo por qué es considerado especial por muchos. Además, incluye “There She Goes”, que es sin duda un clásico indiscutible. Sin embargo, más allá de algunos momentos el resto del álbum no terminó de conectar conmigo. 2/5

The author is clearly biased towards this type of music... but so am I! I love it!

I enjoyed it. Nice

sinceramente me encanto, es un album que escucharía completo de nuevo, ademas de “there she goes” que ya la conocia, me gusto mucho “looking glass”

Thought I never heard of them but then recognized the There She Goes song. The rest of the album was a bit all over the place but I liked it.

no man no Will I listen to again: 0%

This was a bit of a surprise. I had heard "There She Goes" from this album, but nothing else, and even then, I was much more familiar with the cover by Sixpence None The Richer. So I was expecting mostly jangly rock a la R.E.M. What I got instead was a quite diverse set of alt pop rock songs that has one foot in the past and one on the present. I hear 60s sounds like the Who and the Kinks, but also some of that 80s/90s jangle. The vocals are VERY British sounding, but it works here. I think I'm giving this a 4.5/5; this doesn't blow minds, but it is the perfect concoction of sounds that's greater than the sum of its parts.

There she goes I guess. This is not how I expected this album to sound. I like it less. Why is it a guy. And why is he singing like that. I don't like it. It sounds like he's singing badly on purpose because he's embarrassed to try. This is not good. I'll go to doledrum if I so please. I really don't like this. It sounds like something a kid would make. It's kinda just noise. You should be all by yourself. Favourite: There She Goes Least favourite: I Can't Sleep

I cant tell if this is a classic because its always been held up as one for my generation or if it actually is. I was born jn 82 and this was venerated by the britpop generation that filled my teenage ears. It bridged the gap back to the Beatles and was a foundation stone for 90's guitar music. The tragedy that followed only serves to mythologize this even more. A relisten was immensely pleasurable. The voice is strong, the guitars are jangly and lovely and the songs are strong. There is a slight bit of padding toward the end but thats ok.

Doing some background wiki reading listening to this. Surprised to see the band were so scathing towards their own record. There's definitely something missing that makes this fall slightly short of greatness. That's not to say this isn't of brilliantly crafted tunes though.

Can't find much special about this but there is some good songs and pretty catchy parts as well

It was decent

So these guys made this album and then disappeared from the music scene entirely? Yeah, that sounds about right for the list. Strangely, the music is actually pretty good. It's hooky and well-written, with catchy pop melodies that are generally enjoyable. However, this album has two strikes against it: the vocals kind of suck, and the actual songs aren't very interesting beyond being hooky. Most of them go for two to three minutes at most, and they don't leave much of an impact. The lyrics aren't that great, mostly being generic Britpop lyrics. My biggest problem with it, however, is none of these things. It's the fact that they are literally aping Big Star with worse vocals and lyrics. I get the sense that I could just listen to Big Star rather than listen to this, and they were a good 15-20 years earlier. This isn't a bad album, but it's not a particularly great one either. It's just a mediocre pop album from a band that rapidly disintegrated after making it.

Pretty underwhelming britpop. The hit single everyone knows stands out as a completely different track compared to the rest of the album, like a pop hit was just inserted on this album. The most popular songs are the best, not much else worth revisiting. Top tracks: Timeless Melody, There She's Goes

7/10 Looking back on this now, it would be pretty easy to dismiss this as a britpop album with one foot a little too stuck in the 60s, but when considering that it was recorded over a three year period starting in 1987, its significance becomes suddenly more apparent. This is a record that paved the way for a lot of music that would dominate the following decade, with its jangly guitars, poppy melodies and working class grit. While it’s not a perfect album, there are some really great moments on there, and the blend of rhythms that they often produce across the instrumentation offers a pretty engaging vive to the bulk of the work. Lee Mavers obviously has a great ear for a melody, but there’s also a level of harmonic complexity to some of the guitar and bass work that provides a more nuanced musical depth to what, on the surface, seem to be songs that lean towards being somewhat structurally basic pop songs. While those elements of the music are certainly endearing, it does feel a little like they didn’t spend enough time developing their ideas into more comprehensively fleshed out works, with only two tracks on the album clocking in at over 3 minutes. That’s not a problem per se, but it does sometimes feel like the cool idea that Mavers came up with was the end of his interest in the song and he’d quickly shift on to the next thing. Even the biggest hit here, and it’s a pretty perfect pop song, There She Goes, is basically a chorus and a bridge with nothing else to complicate matters. Te shortness of the songs does mean that the weaker moments on the album do shift by fairly quickly though and, while this is a slightly uneven album, both from a quality perspective and a sonic one, it does manage to keep one’s ear pretty well for the duration. It took three years, multiple sessions and multiple producers to create this album, which the band were still unhappy with, but the record company forced it through. That does go some way to explain the slight inconsistency of the production. The fact that the band took so long faffing around to get this far, and subsequently failed to release any more music at all, suggests that it may have been something in the nature of the band to tinker and tinker, never feeling completely satisfied with the results. Perhaps was quite fortunate that they even managed to release this. It’s a bit of a shame really, as there’s a lot of potential in this record, and it would have been nice to see how they developed as a band. Either way, this record certainly feels important, even if it’s not the most even or spellbinding of albums. Son Of A Gun - It’s a nice start, the music shifts around in nice patterns and it’s got a solid groove. There’s nothing complex about it, but it’s well executed. It reminds me a bit of a blend of REM with a British invasion sound thrown in. It’s a great sound, but it’s done so quickly that it feels a tad underdeveloped. I Can't Sleep - This one leans more towards that 60s British rock sound. It’g got a nice blend of rhythms with the drums and guitars creating a nice overlapping push and pull to the groove. There are some cool melodies in here and it’s pretty hooky and well constructed. Again, it hardly hangs around for long enough to explore any further developments. Timeless Melody - I like the blend of rhythms again here. Melodically it reminds me of a more upbeat take on the Smiths again with that 60s britrock thrown in. You can definitely hear a whole host of 90s bands in here, so you can really understand how these guys had a big influence on britpop and other alternative and pop rock 90s bands. Things have been a little tonally inconsistent so far, but it’s all been melodically and rhythmically engaging even if a little lacking in thematic development. Liberty Ship - There’s a nice swung groove to this and again, it sounds very 60s, particularly the vocal harmonies. It’s a really cool sequence, but unfortunately, there’s just not very much development or variation and it’s more or less the same thing for two and a a half minutes except for the subtle addition of some synth pads, so it doesn’t offer much beyond the initial enjoyment of the groove. There She Goes - Ah, the one everyone knows and has heard a million times before. It’s a pretty perfect pop song, with the rhythms of all the parts dancing around each other beautifully, some really simple but beautiful vocal melodies and easy to understand and remember lyrics. It’s essentially three choruses with a bridge that’s just a variation on that same chorus, and that’s it. But it’s so well executed and balanced. Doledrum - This feels quite the precursor to bands like Oasis and Blur, but still has one foot firmly in the 60s. It’s simple, but well executed, has some more of those great bouncing rhythms and is pretty infectious. Pretty good stuff. Feelin' - The vibe of this is great. It’s got an edge of grit to it and the bounce of the rhythm is really good. There’s some great guitar work in there that drags you in. He struggles a bit with his transition to falsetto in the vocal, but it’s quite endearing in a way. And then it’s done! Way Out - Again, this has a big pre-britpop feel to it. As with much of the album, the rhythms of the different parts blend together really well and it’s got a cool, bouncy and insistent groove to it as a result. There’s some nice bits of melodic writing in there too. The transitions into different sections are pretty deft too. Nice stuff. I.O.U. - There’s almost a bluegrassy feel under this. Again, it’s very 60s, but it’s well executed. The transition into the bridge is really good, but ultimately it’s a little on the repetitive and derivative side, and doesn’t feel like it’s doing anything particularly fresh compared to the better tracks on the album. Freedom Song - This is a little on the plodding side but has another pre-90s rock sound to it, particularly in the vocal delivery. There’s some nice bits in there, but it’s just a little bit too basic and flat for me. Some of the background soundscaping work is pretty nice though. Failure - Another proto-britpop sounding track here with its bones hanging out in the 60s. It’s got a great, gritty sound and a solid groove. Ultimately, it doesn’t offer a great amount of range and development though, so while I like the vibe, it’s just a little too musically stale for me. Looking Glass - One song over 3 minutes on the whole record until they close with one that’s nearly 8 minutes. As with much of the album, you can feel them laying the groundwork for the music of the 90s while referencing back to the biggest British music of the past. I was hoping for a little bit more development for a song of this length and ultimately, while it has a decent enough vibe, it’s not vastly interesting because there’s not really enough musical depth to sustain a track of this length and it all feels a tiny bit rhythmically stilted, despite the fairly cool tempo increase to the end.

It was alright, more brit pop rock type.

the amount of average english bands on here is mind boggling... it's so perfectly ok. not something you need to listen to before you die. 2.5

This is lovely. Bought it back then, and can still listen to this today.

fine

Better than I remembered it being. The last few tracks in particular really elevate the album as it did risk drifting a bit. Obviously, the standout track is "There She Goes", but there's plenty to enjoy here.

"There She Goes" is great. The rest is fine.

This is pretty decent, but not outstandingly so, except for (obviously) "There She Goes", which is head and shoulders above everything else. If this were "1001 songs ..." that would be a top level five, but overall the album is a high three.

Overall not too bad. The whimpering “All By Myself” is a real low poing on the album. 3/5

A pretty good rock album.

Not bad, carried by one song

This one is a walk down the memory lane.