Lilys
Encyclopedia
Lilys are an American
indie rock
band
formed in Washington
, D.C in 1988. The only constant member is Kurt Heasley, with the line-up changing regularly. Several of the band's tracks have been used in television adverts, and the band's biggest hit was one of these, "A Nanny In Manhattan", which reached #16 in the UK after being used in a Levi's advert.
and in Virginia Beach. He was expelled from school in the 10th grade for 42 unexcused absences, which he explained as time spent "Learning how to program Emax II samplers and editing functions. Getting up on the Atari 1040 ST sequencing software." He later made his home in Northern Virginia
and DC.
In 1988 the then 17 year old Kurt Heasley (known to friends and colleagues as "Wally") was working at the DC club the BBQ Iguana when he recorded a demo tape which he gave to Slumberland Records
boss Mike Schulman, who was sufficiently impressed that he released the band's first records. The band's name is derived from Charles Manson
follower Trip Lily, although Heasley claimed in 1998 that it was "From that collection of Hebrew folk tales, the Bible, after Adam's first wife, Lilith, who gave birth to all the monsters of the world."
Recording in DC at Inner Ear Studio, Lilys first seven inch single "February Fourteenth" (the title a tribute to My Bloody Valentine, one of Heasley's major influences) was released on Slumberland Records in 1991. Heasley then relocated to Lancaster, Pennsylvania
, where he wrote the debut Lilys album. The album, In the Presence of Nothing
, followed in 1992, with the influence of My Bloody Valentine again in evidence. Early recordings used a variety of musicians including Archie Moore of Velocity Girl
.
The band's next releases were in 1994, including the mini-album A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns
produced by Adam Lasus
, which featured the track "Ginger", which was used in a CK1
advertisement. A third album, Eccsame the Photon Band
, was released in December 1994, and Heasley also had a spell playing bass guitar
with Apples In Stereo.
In August 1995 Lilys recorded Better Can't Make Your Life Better
to be released on Ché in the UK in 1996 and Sire Records
in the US. The album includes Lilys' most famous song
, "A Nanny In Manhattan", which became a hit
in the UK Singles Chart
(reaching #16 in 1998), after being used in a 1998 advertisement campaign for Levi's
directed by Roman Coppola
. Heasley explained how the track was selected for the advert: "They wanted something kitschy and retro, but didn't want to pay for a Small Faces' tune."
By 1995 Kurt had migrated to Boston
to form his most well known version of Lilys. It was there that Beachwood Sparks
drummer Aaron Sperske
and Torben Pastore joined the band. Lilys spent the next five years recording and performing around the world. This included the first fully live performance on Top of The Pops
since Aerosmith
in 1978. The band was signed to Sire Records
via its acquisition of Ché Records, and 1999's The 3-Way was released on the major, before corporate restructuring left them without a label, and the band's output slowed for the next few years, with Heasley spending more time looking after his three children. Also in 1999, Heasley made a foray into electronica
with the album Zero Population Growth: Bliss Out Volume 15
, part of the Darla Records
Bliss Out series.
In 2000 Lilys released the Selected EP
of which he had (his neighbor) coL, do the cover art. In winter of 2000, Kurt began recording Precollection
in Philadelphia.
Three producers and three years later, Heasley began working with producer Michael Musmanno, who produced the latest two Lilys albums. Heasley signed Los Angeles label Manifesto Records
for the latest two Lilys albums.
In 2008, Lilys performed at the All Tomorrow's Parties
festival, curated by My Bloody Valentine, and opened for My Bloody Valentine at some of their other US shows.
In the late 2000s Heasley became based in the Blue Ridge Mountains
.
The band line-up has changed regularly, with over 72 musicians being members of the band during its history. Heasley said of the ever-changing line-up in 2003:
, singing "Tschuss" on their 2003 album And This Is Our Music
. He also contributed "effects" to Poole's "Snowcicle" on the band's Alaska Days album, and performed on Apples In Stereo's 1995 album Fun Trick Noisemaker, and Neko Case
's 2009 album Middle Cyclone
. He co-wrote the Twitch Hazel contributions to their 1997 split double-7-inch EP Kramer's Beach.
He has also produced recordings by other artists including The Asteroid#4 (Apple Street: A Classic Tale Of Love And Hate, King Richard's Collectibles), The Ladybug Transistor
, and Mazarin and co-engineered Echo Orbiter
's Laughing All The While.
has shifted style several times in its history. The early recordings, including debut album In The Presence of Nothing, were strongly influenced by My Bloody Valentine. They then moved through dream pop
before settling on a new style that has been described as mod revival
and a particularly strong influence from The Kinks
, and other 1960s bands such as The Monkees
and The Zombies
leading to the 1996 album Better Can't Make Your Life Better
, Later releases included elements of psychedelic rock
and a return to their earlier shoegazing
sound. The band have gained a reputation for sounding very similar to other artists and bands over the years, with Michael Sandlin of Pitchfork Media
going as far as saying "You might say Lilys frontman Kurt Heasley is a world-class thief", but as one journalist put it "I know we're supposed to hate bands that sound too much like other bands, but the difference with the Lilys is that they do it so blatantly and so shamelessly that it's somehow rendered okay."
Robert Christgau
described the band's sound as "amplified watercolors".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
formed in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, D.C in 1988. The only constant member is Kurt Heasley, with the line-up changing regularly. Several of the band's tracks have been used in television adverts, and the band's biggest hit was one of these, "A Nanny In Manhattan", which reached #16 in the UK after being used in a Levi's advert.
History
A Floridian by birth, Kurt Heasley spent his early years in Hopatcong, NJNj
Nj or NJ may stand for:*New Jersey*Nanojoule , an International System of Units unit of energy equal to 10−9 joules*Nj *Narva-Jõesuu, Estonia*Nordjyske Jernbaner, a Danish railway...
and in Virginia Beach. He was expelled from school in the 10th grade for 42 unexcused absences, which he explained as time spent "Learning how to program Emax II samplers and editing functions. Getting up on the Atari 1040 ST sequencing software." He later made his home in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
and DC.
In 1988 the then 17 year old Kurt Heasley (known to friends and colleagues as "Wally") was working at the DC club the BBQ Iguana when he recorded a demo tape which he gave to Slumberland Records
Slumberland Records
Slumberland Records is an American independent record label formed in 1989 in Washington, D.C. area and currently based in Oakland, CA. The label has released recordings from artists including Velocity Girl, Honeybunch, Lilys, Stereolab, St...
boss Mike Schulman, who was sufficiently impressed that he released the band's first records. The band's name is derived from Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
follower Trip Lily, although Heasley claimed in 1998 that it was "From that collection of Hebrew folk tales, the Bible, after Adam's first wife, Lilith, who gave birth to all the monsters of the world."
Recording in DC at Inner Ear Studio, Lilys first seven inch single "February Fourteenth" (the title a tribute to My Bloody Valentine, one of Heasley's major influences) was released on Slumberland Records in 1991. Heasley then relocated to Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, where he wrote the debut Lilys album. The album, In the Presence of Nothing
In the Presence of Nothing
In The Presence of Nothing is the debut album by the American indie rock band, Lilys, co-released in 1992 by Slumberland Records and SpinART.The album's title is a dig at Velvet Crush, who released In The Presence of Greatness the previous year...
, followed in 1992, with the influence of My Bloody Valentine again in evidence. Early recordings used a variety of musicians including Archie Moore of Velocity Girl
Velocity Girl
Velocity Girl was an American indie rock band formed in 1989 in College Park, Maryland, although it was generally known as a Washington, DC-area band...
.
The band's next releases were in 1994, including the mini-album A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns
A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns
A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns is a 1994 mini-album by the American indie rock band, Lilys, released on the SpinART label on 10-inch vinyl and CD. The lead track, "Ginger", was used in a CK1 commercial. The album was issued in the UK in 1998...
produced by Adam Lasus
Adam Lasus
Adam Lasus is an American musician and record producer.Adam Lasus credits include albums by Yo La Tengo, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Lilys, Helium, Juliana Hatfield, Mark Mulcahy, , Clem Snide, Amy Ray, Madder Rose, Michael Cerveris, , Chris Harford, Versus, Dumptruck, Varnaline, Saturnine and...
, which featured the track "Ginger", which was used in a CK1
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
advertisement. A third album, Eccsame the Photon Band
Eccsame the Photon Band
Eccsame the Photon Band is a 1994 album by the American indie rock band, Lilys, released on the spinART label. The album saw the band move towards dream pop...
, was released in December 1994, and Heasley also had a spell playing bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
with Apples In Stereo.
In August 1995 Lilys recorded Better Can't Make Your Life Better
Better Can't Make Your Life Better
Better Can't Make Your Life Better is a 1996 album by the American indie rock band, Lilys.- Recording :The album was recorded for the British label Ché and picked up by Elektra Records subsidiary Primary for release in the US. The album originally had a budget of $8,000, but this needed to be more...
to be released on Ché in the UK in 1996 and Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
in the US. The album includes Lilys' most famous song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
, "A Nanny In Manhattan", which became a hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
(reaching #16 in 1998), after being used in a 1998 advertisement campaign for Levi's
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...
directed by Roman Coppola
Roman Coppola
Roman Coppola is an American film director and music video director.-Early life:Coppola was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of set decorator/artist Eleanor Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola was born in the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine while his father was in Paris...
. Heasley explained how the track was selected for the advert: "They wanted something kitschy and retro, but didn't want to pay for a Small Faces' tune."
By 1995 Kurt had migrated to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
to form his most well known version of Lilys. It was there that Beachwood Sparks
Beachwood Sparks
Beachwood Sparks are an American alternative country band from Los Angeles. A Daily Telegraph article on America's underground psychedelic pop scene described Beachwood Sparks as "country through a kaleidoscope".-Biography:...
drummer Aaron Sperske
Aaron Sperske
Aaron Sperske is an American drummer, who has played in several bands, including Beachwood Sparks, Lilys, The Miracle Workers, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, and The Pernice Brothers. He also played drums on the Elliott Smith song "Coast to Coast" which was featured on the From a Basement on the...
and Torben Pastore joined the band. Lilys spent the next five years recording and performing around the world. This included the first fully live performance on Top of The Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
since Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
in 1978. The band was signed to Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
via its acquisition of Ché Records, and 1999's The 3-Way was released on the major, before corporate restructuring left them without a label, and the band's output slowed for the next few years, with Heasley spending more time looking after his three children. Also in 1999, Heasley made a foray into electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
with the album Zero Population Growth: Bliss Out Volume 15
Zero Population Growth: Bliss Out Volume 15
Zero Population Growth: Bliss Out Volume 15 is a 1999 album by Lilys. Part of the Darla Records Bliss Out series, it represents a departure by Lilys leader Kurt Heasley into what has been called "krautrock-ish electronica"...
, part of the Darla Records
Darla Records
Darla Records is an independent record label founded by James Agren while he was in New York. Darla Record's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters, an indie rock/lo-fi band from Memphis.- Background :...
Bliss Out series.
In 2000 Lilys released the Selected EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
of which he had (his neighbor) coL, do the cover art. In winter of 2000, Kurt began recording Precollection
Precollection
Precollection is a 2003 album by Lilys released by Manifesto Records. The album was recorded over two years by the band's only constant member Kurt Heasley with a new line-up of the band, which included producer Mike Musmanno on keyboards...
in Philadelphia.
Three producers and three years later, Heasley began working with producer Michael Musmanno, who produced the latest two Lilys albums. Heasley signed Los Angeles label Manifesto Records
Manifesto Records
Manifesto Records is the name of an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California that has released records by The Wedding Present, Dead Kennedys, Tom Waits, Tim Buckley, Lilys, Concrete Blonde, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and others. Manifesto released the entire catalogue of Dead Kennedys...
for the latest two Lilys albums.
In 2008, Lilys performed at the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by The Velvet UndergroundAll Tomorrow's Parties may also refer to:* All Tomorrow's Parties , an annual festival in England...
festival, curated by My Bloody Valentine, and opened for My Bloody Valentine at some of their other US shows.
In the late 2000s Heasley became based in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
.
The band line-up has changed regularly, with over 72 musicians being members of the band during its history. Heasley said of the ever-changing line-up in 2003:
"I love turnover in the band because some people can't add to the student-teacher relationship. I need them to teach me what they want to do in the band so we can quickly move into that area. You always reach these incredible compromises, hopefully they're democratic, but I guess they're more like mono-monarchies. I guess it is democratic. You're giving each person a stake in the law but I've always been the majority holder."
Heasley collaborations and productions
Heasley has collborated with other acts such as Nobody, appearing on the band's 2005 single "Fancy", a cover of the Kinks song. and The Brian Jonestown MassacreThe Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American eclectic musical group led by Anton Newcombe, whose music spans multiple genres including psychedelia, electronica, folk music, blues, experimental music, and many others....
, singing "Tschuss" on their 2003 album And This Is Our Music
And This Is Our Music
...And This Is Our Music is the tenth studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released on October 7, 2003 on Tee Pee Records. It was re-released on A Records, packaged alongside the "If Love Is the Drug, Then I Want to O.D" single, and was distributed in the UK through Cargo Records.-Track...
. He also contributed "effects" to Poole's "Snowcicle" on the band's Alaska Days album, and performed on Apples In Stereo's 1995 album Fun Trick Noisemaker, and Neko Case
Neko Case
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....
's 2009 album Middle Cyclone
Middle Cyclone
Middle Cyclone is the fifth studio album of American alternative country singer-songwriter Neko Case, released on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 on the ANTI- record label. Her first solo effort in three years, Case stated that "it took a very long time to make." As the title of the album suggests, the...
. He co-wrote the Twitch Hazel contributions to their 1997 split double-7-inch EP Kramer's Beach.
He has also produced recordings by other artists including The Asteroid#4 (Apple Street: A Classic Tale Of Love And Hate, King Richard's Collectibles), The Ladybug Transistor
The Ladybug Transistor
The Ladybug Transistor is a Brooklyn-based indie pop group associated with The Elephant Six Collective.Started in 1995 by Gary Olson, Edward Powers and Javier Villegas, the band quickly released Marlborough Farms on Park N' Ride records, adding and subtracting a couple members and going on an...
, and Mazarin and co-engineered Echo Orbiter
Echo Orbiter
Echo Orbiter is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, based indie rock band founded by brothers Justin Emerle and Colin Emerle, described by Philadelphia Weekly as being "Widely considered two of the most inventive songwriters on the [Philadelphia] scene."...
's Laughing All The While.
Musical style
The band's musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
has shifted style several times in its history. The early recordings, including debut album In The Presence of Nothing, were strongly influenced by My Bloody Valentine. They then moved through dream pop
Dream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...
before settling on a new style that has been described as mod revival
Mod Revival
The mod revival was a music genre and subculture that started in England in 1978 and later spread to other countries . The mod revival's mainstream popularity was relatively short, although its influence has lasted for decades...
and a particularly strong influence from The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, and other 1960s bands such as The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
and The Zombies
The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
leading to the 1996 album Better Can't Make Your Life Better
Better Can't Make Your Life Better
Better Can't Make Your Life Better is a 1996 album by the American indie rock band, Lilys.- Recording :The album was recorded for the British label Ché and picked up by Elektra Records subsidiary Primary for release in the US. The album originally had a budget of $8,000, but this needed to be more...
, Later releases included elements of psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
and a return to their earlier shoegazing
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
sound. The band have gained a reputation for sounding very similar to other artists and bands over the years, with Michael Sandlin of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
going as far as saying "You might say Lilys frontman Kurt Heasley is a world-class thief", but as one journalist put it "I know we're supposed to hate bands that sound too much like other bands, but the difference with the Lilys is that they do it so blatantly and so shamelessly that it's somehow rendered okay."
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
described the band's sound as "amplified watercolors".
Albums
- In the Presence of NothingIn the Presence of NothingIn The Presence of Nothing is the debut album by the American indie rock band, Lilys, co-released in 1992 by Slumberland Records and SpinART.The album's title is a dig at Velvet Crush, who released In The Presence of Greatness the previous year...
(1992), SlumberlandSlumberland RecordsSlumberland Records is an American independent record label formed in 1989 in Washington, D.C. area and currently based in Oakland, CA. The label has released recordings from artists including Velocity Girl, Honeybunch, Lilys, Stereolab, St... - A Brief History of Amazing LetdownsA Brief History of Amazing LetdownsA Brief History of Amazing Letdowns is a 1994 mini-album by the American indie rock band, Lilys, released on the SpinART label on 10-inch vinyl and CD. The lead track, "Ginger", was used in a CK1 commercial. The album was issued in the UK in 1998...
(1994) (10" mini album), SpinART - Eccsame the Photon BandEccsame the Photon BandEccsame the Photon Band is a 1994 album by the American indie rock band, Lilys, released on the spinART label. The album saw the band move towards dream pop...
(1994), SpinART - Better Can't Make Your Life BetterBetter Can't Make Your Life BetterBetter Can't Make Your Life Better is a 1996 album by the American indie rock band, Lilys.- Recording :The album was recorded for the British label Ché and picked up by Elektra Records subsidiary Primary for release in the US. The album originally had a budget of $8,000, but this needed to be more...
(1996), Che/Primary - The 3 WayThe 3 WayThe 3 Way is a 1999 album by the American indie rock band, Lilys.The album continued Lilys leader Kurt Heasley's 60's rock influence, with Pitchfork Media's Michael Sandlin stating "Heasley's ransacking encompasses almost the entire stylistic sprawl of the '60s on the groove- a- minute shindig that...
(1999), SireSire RecordsSire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a... - Zero Population Growth: Bliss Out Volume 15Zero Population Growth: Bliss Out Volume 15Zero Population Growth: Bliss Out Volume 15 is a 1999 album by Lilys. Part of the Darla Records Bliss Out series, it represents a departure by Lilys leader Kurt Heasley into what has been called "krautrock-ish electronica"...
(1999), DarlaDarla RecordsDarla Records is an independent record label founded by James Agren while he was in New York. Darla Record's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters, an indie rock/lo-fi band from Memphis.- Background :... - PrecollectionPrecollectionPrecollection is a 2003 album by Lilys released by Manifesto Records. The album was recorded over two years by the band's only constant member Kurt Heasley with a new line-up of the band, which included producer Mike Musmanno on keyboards...
(2003), ManifestoManifesto RecordsManifesto Records is the name of an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California that has released records by The Wedding Present, Dead Kennedys, Tom Waits, Tim Buckley, Lilys, Concrete Blonde, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and others. Manifesto released the entire catalogue of Dead Kennedys...
, reissued in Europe with 3 bonus tracks as The Lilys (2004), Rainbow Quartz - Everything Wrong Is ImaginaryEverything Wrong Is ImaginaryEverything Wrong Is Imaginary is a 2006 album by Lilys, released on the Manifesto label.-Background:The album was written during a traumatic period in Lilys frontman Kurt Heasley's life; His partner disappeared after a psychotic episode and returned to her family leaving Heasley to look after his...
(2006), Manifesto
Singles/EPs
- "February Fourteenth" (1991), Slumberland
- "Tone Bender" (1993)
- Tone Bender EP (1994), Summershine - first 2 singles re-released as EP
- "Returns Every Morning" (1996), Ché
- "A Nanny in Manhattan" (1996), Ché
- Which Studies The Past? EP (1996), Sub PopSub PopSub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
- Services (For The Soon To Be Departed) EP (1997), Primary
- "A Nanny in Manhattan" (1998), Ché (UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#16) - Lilys/Aspera Ad Astra Split (2000), Tiger StyleTiger Style RecordsTiger Style Records is an independent record label located in New York City, New York. It is owned and operated by Insound. As of 2004, it is on hiatus.- Artists who have worked with Tiger Style :*764-HERO*The Album Leaf*American Analog Set...
, split EP with Aspera Ad AstraAspera (band)Aspera were an American indie rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:Aspera formed in 1996 under the name Aspera ad Astra in Philadelphia, and released a 7" split with Haelah before issuing their debut full-length in 1998... - Selected EP (2000), File 13
Compilation appearances
- "Claire Hates Me" appears on Neapolitan Metropolitan (3 x 7-inch EP box set) (1992), Simple MachinesSimple MachinesSimple Machines was a record label that operated out of Arlington, Virginia. The label was masterminded by Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thomson and, at its peak, had four paid workers- Toomey, Thomson, Pat Graham and Mickey Menard...
- "Strange Feelin'" appears on Sing A Song For You: Tribute To Tim Buckley (2000), Manifesto
- "Dreams Never End" appears on "Slumberland Records - The First 20 Years" (2009), Slumberland RecordsSlumberland RecordsSlumberland Records is an American independent record label formed in 1989 in Washington, D.C. area and currently based in Oakland, CA. The label has released recordings from artists including Velocity Girl, Honeybunch, Lilys, Stereolab, St...