| Better Can't Make Your Life Better | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Length | 37:06 | |||
| Label | Ché Trading Limited Primary Recordings/Elektra | |||
| Producer | Michael Deming | |||
| Lilys chronology | ||||
| ||||
Better Can't Make Your Life Better is the fourth studio album by the American indie rock band Lilys, released in 1996.
The album was recorded for the British label Ché and picked up by Elektra Records subsidiary Primary for release in the US. [1] The album originally had a budget of $8,000, but this needed to be more than doubled to $17,000, with the projected studio time of one month extended to two. [2] Battles with the label over finance led to several compromises; Lilys leader Kurt Heasley had originally planned the album to sound "like Badfinger backed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra", and a big band had been planned but was replaced by xylophone and trumpet players, with samples of clarinet and bassoon added later, and by the end of the recordings Heasley claimed to have been a nervous wreck and 50 pounds underweight from eating only garlic. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| The Guardian | [4] |
Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post described the album as "remarkably seamless" and "assembled from shards of mid-'60s rock". [5] Jason Ankeny, writing for AllMusic, described the album's sound as "the Lilys hop into the time machine and travel back to the mid-'60s, immersing themselves in the style of the British Invasion." [3] Neil Gladstone, writing for CMJ New Music Monthly , identified the Kinks, the Monkees and the Zombies as influences on the album. [2] Robert Hickey, writing for PopMatters , called it "a great CD, sounding like something the Kinks would have made had Ray Davies embraced psychedelia instead of taking up charter membership in the Village Green Preservation Society." [6] Tom Cox of The Guardian gave the album four stars, calling it "an album of scrambled, dreamstate intellect and endless hooks...like The Byrds getting high and beating up The Monkees on fast forward." [4]
"Returns Every Morning" was the first single taken from the album, released in April 1996. "A Nanny In Manhattan" was first released as a single in November 1996 on 7-inch vinyl only. It was used in a Roman Coppola-directed ad for Levi's prompting its re-release (with new sleeve art and B-sides) in February 1998 and it became a hit on the UK Singles Chart, reaching #16, the band's only major hit single. [7]
The Slackers are an American ska band, formed in Manhattan, New York in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of North and South America, Europe, and elsewhere, and signing to notable punk label Hellcat Records.
Kinks is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Kinks. It was released on 2 October 1964 in the United Kingdom by Pye Records. The original United States release, issued by Reprise Records on 25 November 1964, omits three tracks and is instead titled You Really Got Me.
Summerteeth is the third studio album by the American rock band Wilco, released on March 9, 1999, by Reprise Records. The album was heavily influenced lyrically by 20th century literature, as well as singer Jeff Tweedy's marital problems. Unlike previous albums, Summerteeth was heavily overdubbed in the studio with Pro Tools. Tweedy and Jay Bennett wrote most of the album in the studio, a contrast to the band's previous albums, which were often recorded live by the entire band with minimal overdubs.
Fun Trick Noisemaker is the debut studio album by the Apples in Stereo. It was recorded in a house in Los Angeles, in Robert Schneider's portable Pet Sounds Studio. It was released in 1995 via SpinART.
More of the Monkees is the second studio album by the American pop rock band the Monkees, released in 1967 on Colgems Records. It was recorded in late 1966 and displaced the band's debut album from the top of the Billboard 200 chart, remaining at No. 1 for 18 weeks, the longest run of any Monkees album. Combined, the first two Monkees albums were at the top of the Billboard chart for 31 consecutive weeks. More of the Monkees also went to No. 1 in the UK. In the U.S., it has been certified quintuple platinum by the RIAA, with sales of more than five million copies. More of the Monkees is also notable for being the first pop/rock album to be the best-selling album of the year in the U.S.
The Monkees is the debut studio album by the American band the Monkees. It was released on October 10, 1966 by Colgems Records in the United States and RCA Victor in the rest of the world. It was the first of four consecutive U.S. number one albums for the group, taking the top spot on the Billboard 200 for 13 weeks, after which it was displaced by the band's second album. It also topped the UK charts in 1967. The Monkees has been certified quintuple platinum by the RIAA, with sales of over five million copies.
Able Tasmans were an indie pop band from Auckland, New Zealand, initially formed as a duo in 1983. They released four albums and two EPs on Flying Nun Records before splitting up in 1996.
Dig Me Out is the third studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney, released on April 8, 1997, by Kill Rock Stars. The album was produced by John Goodmanson and recorded from December 1996 to January 1997 at John and Stu's Place in Seattle, Washington. Dig Me Out marked the debut of Janet Weiss, who would become the band's longest-serving drummer. The music on the record was influenced by traditional rock and roll bands, while the lyrics deal with issues of heartbreak and survival. The album cover is an homage to the Kinks' 1965 album The Kink Kontroversy.
Lilys are an American shoegaze band formed in Washington, D.C in 1988. The only constant member is Kurt Heasley, with the line-up changing regularly. Several of the band's tracks have been used in television advertisements, including the band's biggest hit, "A Nanny In Manhattan", which reached No. 16 in the UK after being used in a Levi's advertisement directed by Roman Coppola.
Take It from the Man! is the third studio album by American psychedelic rock band the Brian Jonestown Massacre. After recording their shoegaze-influenced debut album Methodrone (1995) and releasing a collection of early recordings, Spacegirl & Other Favorites, the band took influence from 1960s British psychedelic garage rock and recorded Take it from the Man! from November 1995–February 1996. After recording the entire album with an unnamed producer who scrapped the recordings, the band re-recorded the album on a minimal budget, mostly at Lifesource Studios in Emeryville, California with production from Psychic TV's Larry Thrasher, whose usual "studio" approach was vetoed out by the band's back-to-basics approach.
Challenge for a Civilized Society is the sixth studio album by the American post-hardcore band Unwound, released on January 13, 1998 by Kill Rock Stars. It was produced by Steve Fisk and recorded from August 1, 1997, to August 15, 1997, at John and Stu's in Seattle, Washington. The album received positive reviews from critics.
Precollection is a 2003 album by Lilys released by Manifesto Records. The album was recorded over two years by the band's only constant member Kurt Heasley with a new line-up of the band, which included producer Mike Musmanno on keyboards. The album was reissued in 2004 on the Rainbow Quartz International label under the title The Lilys, with different sleeve art and three bonus tracks. Lyrical themes include "the acquisition of illegal substances" in the Hunting Park area of Philadelphia on "Will My Lord Be Gardening", which Heasley stated is "about loving someone after they get fucked up, I mean fucked...and that's fucked up," and his relationship with his children. "Will My Lord Be Gardening" was included on the soundtrack of the 2005 film Waiting....
In the Presence of Nothing is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Lilys, co-released in 1992 by Slumberland Records and SpinART. The album was written and recorded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns is a 1994 mini-album by the American indie rock band, Lilys, released on the SpinART label on 10-inch vinyl and CD. The lead track, "Ginger", was used in a CK1 commercial. The album was issued in the UK in 1998. The album saw the band make their first major stylistic shift; The early My Bloody Valentine-influenced sound had given way to what Trouser Press described as "pleasant, straightforward guitar pop".
Eccsame the Photon Band is the second album by the American indie rock band Lilys, released in 1994 on the spinART label. The album saw the band move towards dream pop. The notoriously nomadic Kurt Heasley refers to this period of Lilys history as EPOCH I, also included is his first seven-inch single " February Fourteenth", the mini LP A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns and Lilys' first full-length album, In The Presence of Nothing. Eccsame the Photon Band was recorded at Mike Deming's Studio 45 in Hartford, Connecticut, largely as duo of Heasley and Harold Evans.
Smile was an American rock band.
Offspeed and in There is the second album by the American band Drain, released in 1996 through Trance Syndicate.
"She's Got Everything" is a song written by Ray Davies and released by English rock band the Kinks. It first appeared as the B-side of the Kinks' 1968 single, "Days".
Good Times! is the twelfth studio album by the American pop rock band the Monkees, released in 2016 by Rhino Records. Produced primarily by Adam Schlesinger, the album was recorded to commemorate the band's 50th anniversary. It was the first Monkees studio album since Justus (1996), marking the longest gap between releases to date, and the first since the death of band member Davy Jones. The album features surviving Monkees Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, as well as a posthumous contribution from Jones.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American rock band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990.
