La's
Like many bands of the British pop movement of the early 1990s, the La's created a big--though short-lived--splash, then belly-flopped into obscurity. Most will remember them only from their pillowy single, "There She Goes," but this album is replete with delightfully jangly, remarkably well-crafted songs and deserves to be waived from the stigma of one-hit-wonderdom. Lead singer and songwriter Lee Mavers is largely the culprit responsible for the success and failure of this album; a perfectionist, he ultimately paralyzed the album's momentum with band-member changes, the relentless rerecording of songs, and obsession over details, which caused fatal delays in its completion and release. But his pursuit of perfection was nearly achieved--almost every song had potential as a successful single. Truly a sleeper classic.--Beth Bessmer