Lush

English indie rock band Lush were one of the leading acts of the so-called "shoegazing" movement. They disbanded in 1998 after the suicide of drummer Chris Acland.

Fast Facts:

1. Formed in 1988 in England
2. Label: 4AD Records
3. Members: Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson, Phil King, Chris Acland
4. Several of the band's songs were used in Volkswagen and Levi's commercials
5. Drummer Chris Acland committed suicide in 1996
6. Lush's cover of The Rubinoos' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" was evidence in that band's copyright suit against Avril Lavigne

Lush and Shoegazing

Lush's first EP, 1989's Scar, helped to introduce the shoegazing sound that would become popular in the United Kingdom's burgeoning alternative rock scene in the early 1990s. The sound, inspired by the droning, noisy, distorted guitar of bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Galaxie 500, was featured prominently on Lush's first two studio albums, the 1992 Spooky and 1994's Split.

As the shoegaze sound was supplanted by the Britpop style of bands like Oasis and Blur in the mid-1990s, Lush followed suit and released the 1996 crossover attempt Lovelife, featuring their biggest hit singles to date, "Ladykillers" and "Single Girl." The stylistic switch was controversial among the band's fans, and seen in some ways as the symbolic end point of the shoegaze phenomenon.

Acland Suicide

In 1996, drummer Acland, who had allegedly suffered from depression, hung himself in his parents' house. The band, devastated, broke up two years later, in 1998.

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