Heasley’s ability to plot and play out ideas about what represented the spirit of the later stages of the British Invasion worked well.Īs suits were doffed for caftans, ties for scarves, bespoke tailoring for paisley prints, so Lilys craft tributes to that flamboyant, edgy and innovative era. Lilys twisted their structured songs to twirl and pivot into surprising directions. Skillfully, Lilys’ mimicry gave way to mastery. In other words, this pair of cuts echoed those of Velvet Crush itself.īetter Can’t Make Your Life Better upended neo-psychedelic imitators across indie rock.

But a couple of tracks on Eccsame presaged the next phase of Heasley’s evocation of what fans of the ‘60s sonic ideal sought. However, coming well after Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, the first two Lilys albums displayed Heasley and crew’s technical savvy at re-creating durable models rather than sculpting subtler contours.

Textures wash over the listener with immensity and sonic depths rise and fall impressively. That and album number two, the oddly titled Eccsame the Photon Band, delved deeply into drone. Instead of catchy melodies and sunny harmonies, riffs lumbered and pitched. Something about fellow East Coast pop purveyors Velvet Crush on their sprightly In the Presence of Greatness must have rankled Heasley, its ‘60s-esque perfect pop curdling into the title of Lilys debut LP In the Presence of Nothing.

As the center of whomever worked with him as Lilys, he began the ‘90s as a shoegazer. How does a revival stay fresh? Kurt Heasley spent over 15 years answering this.

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