The reissue of Lush’s ‘Gala’ remains an essential autopsy of the shoegaze genre’s birth. While contemporaries were liquefying structures into feedback, Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson were doing something far more subversive: writing sharp, barbed pop songs and burying them under a tectonic weight of ethereal distortion. This auditory duality is mirrored in the visual legacy of the EPs that comprise this set: ‘Scar’ (1989), ‘Mad Love’ (1990), and ‘Sweetness and Light,’ (1990). Curated by the legendary design firm v23 and Vaughan Oliver, the artwork utilized blurred, organic textures to signal that Lush was an aesthetic environment. This design philosophy moved away from literal portraiture toward a tactile abstraction, defining the branding of the shoegaze genre as something deeply mysterious and high-art.
Listening to this collection today reveals a palpable, jagged energy in tracks like “Sweetness and Light” and “De-Luxe” that feels more aligned with post-punk drive than sedentary haze. This latest remastering process breathes new life into that friction, specifically expanding the dynamic range of the guitar layers. For the technical specs of the 180g vinyl pressing, the heavier weight significantly reduces sympathetic vibrations, allowing the complex, overlapping guitar frequencies to remain stable even at high volumes. The pressing features a “dead quiet” floor, which is critical for a record that relies so heavily on the breathy, reverb-as-instrument vocal production that pioneered the modern dream-pop template. By treating the voice as a textural ghost within the mix, Lush created a sense of intimacy that felt both distant and all-encompassing.
The bonus rarities provide a fascinating track-by-track look at the band’s versatility: their cover of Wire’s “Outdoor Miner” is a masterclass in minimalist pop, while the take on ABBA’s “Hey Hey Helen” reveals a glam-rock muscle hidden beneath their signature reverb. Additionally, the inclusion of “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” demonstrates a playful, kitschy streak that grounded their high-art aspirations in a very British sense of irony. These specific textures have left a permanent mark on the modern landscape, most notably in the influence of Lush on acts like Alvvays. You can hear the Berenyi-Anderson DNA in the way Molly Rankin’s crystalline vocals are often buoyed by driving, fuzzy guitar counterpoints; a direct descendant of the weaponized beauty found throughout ‘Gala.’
The rhythm section of Steve Rippon and the late Chris Acland provides a muscularity that prevents the record from floating away; Acland’s drumming, in particular, is an essential study in adding organic urgency to a genre often criticized for being stagnant. Fundamentally, ‘Gala’ is a document of a band figuring out how to balance pop sensibility with sonic extremity. It captures a moment where the coziness of the dream-pop aesthetic was still dangerous and physically imposing. In an age where digital production can simulate infinite space, the analog, claustrophobic heat of these recordings, now clarified and expanded through this high-fidelity reissue, feels more vital and human than ever.
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