Lilys will take the stage at beloved Pappy and Harriet's ahead of album rerelease

The indie rock band Lilys never enjoyed mainstream success or a smash-hit single, but its 1994 sophomore album "A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns" is resonating with underground music fans.

The album was released in 1994 as a 10-inch record. It has since been remastered and scheduled for rerelease on Feb. 12. Lilys is also playing five dates in California, including a Jan. 22 stop at Pappy and Harriet's.

Lilys' current lineup features Kurt Heasley on guitars and vocals; James Richardson of MGMT on guitar; Evan Weiss of Girls and Sparks on bass; Matty McDermott of Nymph on pedal steel; Don DeVore of Collapsing Scenery on synth; Don DeVore of Collapsing Scenery on synthesizer and guitars; and longtime collaborator Alex Craig on guitar.

Heasley is the only constant member of Lilys since he started it over 30 years ago in Washington, D.C., and the group recorded eight albums between 1992 and 2006.

During a recent phone interview with Heasley from his studio space just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, he said a sculptor who shares the space with him just finished pouring resin on a current project. Affected by the fumes, he commented, "I can see why people love making surfboards."

He said the current Lilys tour "doesn't fall into any category" such as promoting a reunion or a new record. Even though it's not promoted as an "anniversary tour," it does coincide with the rerelease of Lilys' sophomore effort.

"A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns" is an edgier pop record but it isn't considered groundbreaking for its time. Bands such as Dinosaur Jr., The Lemonheads and Teenage Fanclub already had success with a similar sound, but Lilys made up for it with prodigious songwriting and enhanced production.

Heasley said he pushed Greg Calbi, a mastering engineer who worked with musicians such as Harry Nilsson, John Lennon and Bob Dylan, to do "crazy things" resulting in a "sonic mess."

Tim DiGravina of AllMusic described the first five songs of the record as "pop/rock definition for the word beautiful."

An 'incredible and unknown trajectory'

Only 5,000 copies of “A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns” were released in 1994. Record collectors have since discovered the album and Heasley saw copies going for $250 to $325 at record fairs and resolved to remaster and rerelease it. He could also correct mistakes and include guitars that canceled each other out in the original mix.

“I didn’t realize in my attempt to make it sound spectacular that I did a lot of damage,” Heasley said. “But hey, you’re only 22 once and I was not overly cautious.”

Lilys explored territory such as '60s pop music, indie rock and shoegaze, which is a subgenre of alternative rock made famous by the Irish band My Bloody Valentine, featuring shrouded vocals and a variety of guitar effects played at a loud volume.

A constant topic of discussion and debate among Lilys’ fans and critics is how there’s a lack of consistency in the group's catalog. It’s true, all eight albums sound different from one another.

But Heasley is comfortable with the band's musical experimentation and said Lilys strived to be on an “incredible and unknown trajectory” working with whatever ideas he and previous members came up with. He rejects the traditional model of a management company, business plan and following a record label’s plans of success.

“There’s a different social survival construct available to us and maybe it was one too many Robert Anton Wilson books as a teenager, but I thought of something more real and tangible, even if it wasn’t going to be 50 million records and world tours,” Heasley said.

Lilys saw some success when its songs were licensed for commercials. “Ginger,” the first song from “A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns,” was used for a Calvin Klein fragrance commercial. “Nanny in Manhattan” from its 1996 album “Better Can’t Make Your Life Better” was used in an advertisement for Levi’s.

“If commercial licensing facilitates the journey, I’m 100% supportive of it,” Heasley said. “All the other stuff, the sound design and sound alike of the last 30 years, I feel that’s what music schools are for and that’s what they generate.”

Dozens have played in the band

Pushing boundaries and encouraging artistry among band members makes for great records, but it's not profitable unless millions of people buy them, which explains why there's been 72 Lilys musicians over the years. Heasley said he wants to feel at ease asking musicians to take risks, but knows the risk often doesn't come with a reward.

"You have a bunch of bass players moving back in with their moms, and they hate you," Heasley quipped. "I think we learned risk management without becoming risk averse. We are quite the opposite. I think of it like 'Jeopardy!' and it's like, 'How much can we afford to lose on this one, guys?'

Some well-known musicians have played in the group such as Devore, pianist and singer-songwriter Beth Sorrentino, producer Rich Costey and Los Angeles musician Ariel Pink.

Pink received backlash last year after attending a protest on Jan. 6 at the National Mall to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election. He was not involved in swarming the Capitol building.

Heasley said he can "agree to disagree" with Pink, but supports his right of attending the protest.

"I feel like we need more dialogue between both sides," Heasley said. "I'm not saying we need more dialogue with Donald Trump, but I feel the urban and the rural need to come together for a country to work."

Lilys has plans for more albums, and Heasley said he's "optimistic" about consistent touring and recording, but doesn't know how committed the present lineup is for his future plans.

"To get those guys to literally say, 'and now we're going to make a record,' and make them do that, I'm afraid that we would never speak to each other again," Heasley said. "If you've ever seen a law passed or sausage being made, you will understand how bad records are. They kill people if you're doing it right."

Heasley has a history of playing at Pappy and Harriet's as an opener for the rock band Dinosaur Jr. and watched bands such as The Hubcaps and The Apples in Stereo perform at the Pioneertown venue.

"The people who come to shows at Pappy and Harriet's are so in to the long haul, and we can roll in, slowly do everything and make it feel more inclusive," Heasley said. "I have a 28-year love of Pioneertown and its many incarnations, so this will definitely be interesting for me because I've never had the amount of fluency in command of the entire catalog as I do now, and everyone is on the same page."

If you go

What: Lilys

When: Saturday, Jan. 22

Where: Pappy and Harriet's, 53-688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown

Tickets: $22 to $25

Information: pappyandharriets.com

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Lilys to play beloved Pappy and Harriet's ahead of album rerelease