Lush - Lovelife [12", LP]

Last weekend wasn't just Record Store Day on Saturday, but it was also time for the spring edition of the Utrecht record fair. I went on the Sunday as usual, and came home with loads of good stuff. This LOVELIFE LP by LUSH was one of the best purchases i've done that weekend. It was on my wantlist for many years, but i never spotted one (in at least VG+ condition) under 50 euro. Since it would be rather to complete my Lush vinyl collection than wanting it because it's so amazingly good, i never bothered to buy one at that price. It's a pretty rare album though. It never got repressed on vinyl until recently for the Origami boxset for Record Store Day.
This time around at the fair i spotted three copies at various stands: two indeed in the 60+ euro regions, but one very fairly priced at 25 euro. Even in better condition than those other two copies, and i actually managed to get 20% off the price on top of that.
Lovelife, the band's third and -until now at least- last album, is clearly my least favourite Lush album. Yet still a pleasant one to listen every now and then. Especially the singles Single Girl, 500 and Ladykillers are cool. I personally find Olympia however the best song on the album. It's the album's closing song, and with its melancholic vibe and vocal harmony it comes closest to the sound of Lush in their earlier days.

Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: CAD 6004
Year of release: 1996

SIDE A:
01. Ladykillers
02. Heavenly Nobodies
03. 500
04. I've Been Here Before
05. Papasan
06. Single Girl
07. Ciao!

SIDE B:
01. Tralala
02. Last Night
03. Runaway
04. The Childcatcher
05. Olympia

Lush - 500 (Shake Baby Shake) [7"]

The third and final single from Lovelife (and therefore the last single LUSH ever released) is 500 (SHAKE BABY SHAKE). The song has a somewhat sixties' (Beach Boys, Byrds) vibe to it and it's my favourite of the three singles. But the B-side is even better: a cover of a song originally by The Magnetic Fields called I Have The Moon. A great song and as far as i'm concerned this alone was worth buying the whole set of three singles (this one, Single Girl and Ladykillers) at the Utrecht record fair a while ago.


Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: AD 6009
Year of release: 1996

SIDE A:
01. 500 (Shake Baby Shake)

SIDE B:
01. I Have The Moon

Lush - Ladykillers [7"]

Like Single Girl and 500, LADYKILLERS is a coloured vinyl single in a clear pvc sleeve. It was released as the second single from the Lovelife album. The song is uptempo and very much britpop, and pretty different for that matter than LUSH in the early nineties (the Lush i love). But like already mentioned earlier when i wrote about the Single Girl single; a nice addition to my Lush collection. The B-side is a cover of The Rubinoos '70s powerpop classic I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (here changed into I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend, obviously).


Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: AD 6002
Year of release: 1996

SIDE A:
01. Ladykillers

SIDE B:
01. I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend

Lush - Single Girl [7"]

Not really high on my wishlist were the singles taken from the Lovelife album by LUSH (this one, Ladykillers and 500). But when i came across all three of them at the record fair in Utrecht some weeks ago - all still sealed, looking great with coloured vinyl in clear pvc sleeves, and for a price that you'd normally pay for a new 7" single anyway - i couldn't resist buying them of course.
The band's sound during the final album before they disbanded after Chris Acland's tragic death, is quite different from the shoegaze they made in the early nineties. SINGLE GIRL is pure indie rock; a catchy uptempo song that was released as the first single of the album in January 1996. Another reason for me to buy these singles was the B-sides; all three have non-album tracks that i hadn't heard before. Sweetie is a nice tune but nothing really special. So no surprises here. But cool to be able to getting closer to completing my Lush collection this way.


Label: 4AD
Cat.nr.: AD 6001
Year of release: 1996

SIDE A:
01. Single Girl

SIDE B:
01. Sweetie