I distinctly remember Ian nearly shitting his pants when he stumbled across this CD in a used bin at Princeton Record Exchange five-or-more years ago. Lilys are a band whose discography is really hit-or-miss. More than any modern band I can think of right at this moment, they have the ability to write a truly amazing song and then hide it on an album amongst eight or nine complete duds. Also, the band has this annoying habit of completely change directions from one album to the next. Shit, sometimes they change directions in the middle of a fucking record. Recommending a Lilys album to friend is next to impossible, because I have to repeatedly scan their recorded output to remember which albums contain the brilliant shoegaze-influenced tunes or the lulling ambient drones, while steering clear of the all the cheesy psych-pop crap. Eccsame The Photon Band is probably the only album of theirs I can listen to in its entirety, and it includes probably the best songs singer/songwriter Kurt Heasley ever penned. I guess In The Presence Of Nothing is good too…
It’s not even worth mentioning Heasley’s backing band on this album because I get it confused with every other album, and it changes all the fucking time. It’s probably changing right now for all I know. I saw Lilys at Spaceland a while ago and I didn’t recognize anyone in the group or any of the songs. It kind of blew, but I was also really drunk on Knob Creek and trying to impress my now-girlfriend then-object-of-affection.
As for Eccsame The Photon Band, it’s a classic. “High Writer At Home” is a gauzy, druggy epic opener. “FBI And Their Toronto Transmitters” sounds like Talk Talk with heavier drums. “Overlit Canyon (The Obscured Wingtip Memoir)” sounds like Low or Bedhead with a softer-voiced male singer and more discernible pop melodies. It’s really an album worthy of great heaps of praise. Too bad they followed it up with a complete a dud, the pedestrian pop album Better Can’t Make Your Life Better. I gave that one a spin last week and had to call it quits after about three songs.
Lilys
Eccsame The Photon Band
MediaFire Download Link
Tracklist:
01. High Writer At Home
02. Untitled
03. Day Of The Monkey
04. FBI And Their Toronto Transmitters
05. Untitled
06. The Turtle Which Died Before Knowing
07. The Hermit Crab
08. Untitled
09. Overlit Canyon (The Obscured Wingtip Memoir)
10. Hubble
11. Untitled
12. Kodiak (Reprise)
13. Radiotrocity
14. Your Guest And Host
