There was a time and a place when the question of "When would the La's release a new album?" was every bit as pressing a concern as when, say, Guns 'N' Roses, Dr. Dre or My Bloody Valentine would get it together and drop a new one.
Now, that time was in the early- to mid-'90s and that place was in England or in American households with several back issues of the NME.
Which is not to say that there aren't plenty of Americans who love perfectly crafted, supremely catchy and just-the-right-level-of-wistful guitar of Beatles-like guitar pop and hold out hope that the Liverpool band will someday release a follow-up to their near-perfect 1990 self-titled debut.
Well, no update on that, but The La's will do a rare live show on March 12 at Webster Hall, which will have to do. Tickets are available here.
The La's are best known for the single "There She Goes," which was a hit on college radio and has appeared on a trillion soundtracks, most notably "So I Married an Axe Murderer." A follow-up never materialized, even as the band shed members in the double-digits and worked with a variety of high-profile U.K. album producers.
As chronicled in this memorable Entertainment Weekly piece, songwriter Lee Mavers had exacting, baffling standards for what he would release and at some point decided to do the "reclusive rock genius" thing rather than make a second album of glorious pop songs, even though there's been enough material circulating on bootlegs to suggest that he could have made something great. Which is a shame. Still, though, "There She Goes." That's a great song.
