The La's

With just one album in its discography, and one genuine hit -- the enduringly charming "There She Goes" -- the La's look to be a lock for the one-hit-wonder hall of fame. Which is a shame, because the Liverpool group, which drew its sound from the spiderwebbed guitars of the Byrds and the Hollies, was for a moment or two among the most promising in all British pop.

First established in 1986, the La's recorded their debut with producer Steve Lillywhite. While the fragile, slightly anguished voice of Lee Mavers brings melancholic dimension to "There She Goes," the rest of the album, which later influenced Oasis and others, stretches from fantasy themes to gnarly garage rock to the near-frantic "Way Out." What connects these styles is Mavers' keen melodic sense: Even when he's projecting anger or hostility, there's an ethereal, floating-in-the-clouds effortlessness to the songs, a quality Mavers apparently tried, unsuccessfully, to replicate on a followup that was never released. After the success of "There She Goes," which turned up on the soundtrack to 1998's The Parent Trap, Mavers worked for years on a second record, and despite a tour in the mid-'90s, it has never been released; bassist John Power enjoyed some success in the U.K. with his middling, hippieish Brit-pop band Cast. (TOM MOON)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide