Lilies On Mars are Italian-born duo Lisa Dply Masia and Marina Cristofala, who now call London home. Having already met and performed for David Lynch and collaborated with experimental musicians, you would expect the two ladies to create an album that veers towards avant garde rather than songcraft. Thankfully, they make room for both on a delightfully quirky record.
At times their debut does seem to be aiming deliberately for minor cult status. Witness first track ‘Maory Legend’ for evidence, where the inspiration is a book of the same name by philosopher Manlio Sgalambro, with narration by an Italian actress. Furthermore, ‘Honourable Horrible Friend’ and its onslaught of crunching rhythms and shouted vocals verges on the unlistenable.
Lilies On Mars are undoubtedly best appreciated when they aim for more song-based material. The grungy ‘Passing By’ is the best example of their harder-edged product whilst the Cranes-like ‘Hey, What’s Wrong? Wake up!’ might overdo the “kookiness” of the vocals but the beguiling melody of this folk ditty cannot be denied. Likewise, ‘My Liver Hurts’ – and particularly its “you hurt me, you make me sick” refrain – treads a unique line between fairytale horror and quirky pop music and ‘Electric Fits’ is reminiscent of 4AD acts like Lush. They also finish the record brilliantly for the chilling, driving chorus that forms the core of ‘X2’
So, Lilies On Mars are a mixed bag then but they do impress overall despite those ill-advised diversions. The question is whether they will pursue their performance art direction or channel their quirkiness into something consistently coherent. From my point of view, I would certainly hope for the latter course.
Web Sites:
Lilies On Mars MySpace
Further Listening:
Cranes, Lush
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