THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (42): Lush – Ladykillers

Lazy post time as I’m regurgitating the words used in September 2016 when I wrote about having CD2 of this single sitting here in Villain Towers.

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Many folk have tried to re-write history and get sniffy about Britpop, that era from around 1994 – 1997 when just about every indie-guitar band snagged themselves a record deal, got written about in NME and/or Select magazine, appeared on TV to promote their latest single (usually on TFI Friday) and then found themselves dropped and in debt when the bubble burst in spectacular fashion.

Now there was a lot of really average, and in fact, sub-standard stuff, that became very popular in that era. I mean, does anyone really have a soft spot for the abomination that is Ocean Colour Scene? Or Cast?? (see that opening phrase re getting sniffy and about Britpop, this post is akin to the pot calling the kettle black!)

But there was a lot of great stuff including music from a band that was originally lumped in with the very early 90s genre of shoegazing. And no, don’t ask me to explain what shoegazing was exactly – something to do with a bands’ inability to look at their audience when playing. By that definition, just about every band in its existence has gone through a shoegazing period. Unless they have a lead singer who is just a big show-off.

Fast-forward to 1996, and Lush are now part of the latest genre dreamt up by the media (shame on you for this one, Stuart Maconie). Although it was inappropriate for the band to be lumped-in with loads of acts with whom they had nothing in common, it did at least get them some daytime radio play, and in 1996, three singles in a row cracked the Top 30, including this:-

mp3 : Lush – Ladykillers

It’s just a cracking pop song. Great riff, melody and lyric. You can’t really ask for anything more….

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As I was only buying CDs in 1996, I wouldn’t have noticed that Ladykillers had been released as a 7″ on Green Vinyl. Seemingly, 7,500 copies were pressed up.  I picked up a copy via Discogs for £10 in April 2021.  It’s b-side was otherwise unavailable

mp3: Lush – I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend

It’s Miki and Emma’s take on I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, a 1979 single by American power-pop combo, The Rubinoos, and it’s great fun.

JC