Plush

by Joslyn Layne Vocalist, pianist, and guitarist Liam Hayes (known for his work with Will Oldhams Palace) has been songwriting for his group, Plush, since the dawn of the 90s, but didnt record with the band until 1994 when the single Three Quarters Blind Eyes/Found a Little Baby came out on Chicagos Drag City label. This first effort for the seldom-gigging band garnered some surprisingly big attention from the music press; notably, the B-side was named Single of the Week by one British magazine and received critical praise from several others. It was another three years, however, before the band created a follow-up. 1997s No Education came out on Flydaddy, and it was a much shorter wait between releases this time, with their full-length debut coming out the following year. 1998s More You Becomes You actually finds Hayes at the piano singing sparse, vulnerable, and romantic songs along the heartfelt lines of Carole King and Burt Bacharach ballads. Following the albums release, the band continued together with Hayes on guitar and toured with the Japanese band Ghost and with Yo La Tengo. One can also catch Hayes performing in the background of a bar scene in the film High Fidelity (2000), a movie about an obsessive music fan living in Chicago. In 2002, the Japanese After Hours label released Hayes next achievement, Fed - an album as lush and ambitious as the previous was sparse.