Tuesday, February 14, 2006  

"Valentine, I'll wait out in the rain for you."

Lilys
"February Fourteenth"
"February Fourteenth"/"Threw a Day" 7-inch single
(Slumberland, 1991)

Kurt Heasley has been running Lilys since 1989 -- a numeral that also represents the number of musicians who have passed through his band. He's never had a distinct voice as a songwriter, having traversed intense My Bloody Valentine and Kinks phases that were more remarkable for their mimicry than their art. He's long been the Rich Little of indie rock, but like any good impressionist, when a bit works, it works (i.e., Frank Caliendo's John Madden, Dick Cheney's Ted Nugent).

Lilys debuted with the fantastic "February Fourteenth" single at the height of My Bloody Valentine devotion. It's a lost shoegaze classic.

It wasn't just that all of us indie-rockers worshiped MBV; we also wanted to re-create the group's sonic trickery in our own bands, and simply hammering the whammy bar and loading up on distortion pedals wasn't cutting it. There was something about MBV that went beyond our skill level and we were never able to properly ape the band's signature sound. Not Kurt Heasley: From the dream-state vocal inflections to the screaming guitars (more Isn't Anything than Loveless), he nailed MBV. (There's some Dinosaur Jr. up in there, too.)

I met Kurt at the Lotsa Pop Losers festival in 1991, and he was a gangly, chubby, socially awkward kid who hid behind bowl-cut bangs. (I have pictures; if only I had a scanner). Everyone called him "Wally"; I don't remember why, but I know he hated it. I still think of him as Wally to this day, even though I haven't seen him for about 13 years. (And he's outgrown his baby fat; see photo above.)

Kurt seemed like a remarkably talented, completely unfocused goofball who didn't fit in with the Dischord-centric D.C. scene, so I'm not surprised he eventually high-tailed it to Pennsylvania (first in Lancaster to be near the SpinArt Records guys, and later onto Philly).

Lilys have a new CD out, Everything Wrong Is Imaginary; you can hear a few songs from it at MySpace and Fluxblog. The music is fine, but I'm sticking with "February Fourteenth." It's already brought me 15 years of fab Valentine wishes, so I'm not gonna break up with it now. Love, y'all.

Posted by CP | Link |

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