"Ladykillers" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Lush. It was released through

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

on 26 February 1996 as the second single from the band's third studio album, '' Lovelife'' (1996). Known for its

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

themes, the song became one of the band's bigger hits, peaking at No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 18 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart, and No. 15 on the Canadian ''

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'' Alternative 30 chart.

Background

"Ladykillers" was described as a

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

track and "a punky shot of Blondie-esque new wave". Lacking the

reverb In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

-indebted sound of the band's previous material, the track opened with "attention-seizing circular melody and spunky vocals" from lead vocalist

Miki Berenyi Miki Eleonora Berenyi (born 18 March 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known as a member of the alternative rock band Lush and currently a member of Piroshka and the Miki Berenyi Trio. Biography Early life Beren ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

said that it was influenced by "the direct, jagged pop of

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by guitarist/singer Justine Frischmann and drummer Justin Welch after their departure from Suede. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave musi ...

", but the band were annoyed by what Berenyi called "stupid Elastica comparisons". Berenyi confirmed that the second and third verses of the song were about

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

lead singer

Anthony Kiedis Anthony Kiedis ( ; born November 1, 1962) is an American musician and lead vocalist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis and his fellow band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Kiedis spent his youth in ...

and

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

bassist

Matt Sharp Matthew Kelly Sharp (born September 22, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Until 1998, he was the bassist for the Rock music, rock band Weezer, which he co-founded in 1992. He appears on their first two albums, the ''Weezer (B ...

, respectively. Berenyi condemned Kiedis' behavior that she witnessed during

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...

, labeling him as manipulative and detailing an incident in which Kiedis asked her to accompany him to a

strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

, as well as Kiedis' abuse of groupies that occurred during the tour.

Critical reception

Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is a ''New York Times'' best-selling author and music historian. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The Guardian and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio w ...

of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' regarded the song as one of the album's standouts, describing it as "a welcome antidote to Britpop's masculine point of view". Zaleski further stated that the track is "a righteous feminist statement in which Lush reminds those with a

Y chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in therian mammals and other organisms. Along with the X chromosome, it is part of the XY sex-determination system, in which the Y is the sex-determining chromosome because the presence of the ...

that respecting women and treating them like smart, competent human beings is perhaps the best first step."

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

critic Frank Mojica stated that Berenyi eviscerates "men with transparent agendas and dubious attitudes towards women everywhere with an infectiously sarcastic wit". He concluded: "It's what would have been hyped as a girl power anthem had it been released a couple years later." The track was included on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's list of "Top 10 Britpop Tracks".

Music video

A music video for the song, directed by

Mark Pellington Mark Pellington (born March 17, 1962) is an American film director, writer, and producer. Life and career Pellington was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Bill Pellington, an All-Pro linebacker who played American Football, football with t ...

, was released in 1996. It features the band performing the song, as well as footage of

praying mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate ...

es decapitating one another.

Track listings

UK 7-inch single :A. "Ladykillers" – 3:14 :B. "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" (

The Rubinoos The Rubinoos are an American power pop band that formed in 1970 in Berkeley, California, Berkeley, California. They are perhaps best known for their single (music), singles "I Think We're Alone Now" (1977, a cover of the hit by Tommy James & th ...

cover) – 3:19 UK CD1 # "Ladykillers" # "Matador" # "Ex" # "Dear Me" (Miki's 8-track home demo) UK CD2 # "Ladykillers" # "Heavenly" # "Carmen" # "Plums and Oranges"

Personnel

Personnel are lifted from the UK CD1 liner notes. Lush * Lush – production *

– vocals, guitar *

Emma Anderson Emma Victoria Jane Anderson (born 10 June 1967) is an English musician. She is a songwriter, and was guitarist and singer in the shoegazing/Britpop band Lush. Early life Born in Wimbledon, London, the adopted daughter of a former army office ...

– guitar, vocals * Phil King – bass guitar *

Chris Acland Christopher John Dyke Acland (7 September 1966 – 17 October 1996) was an English drummer and songwriter. He was the drummer of the London-based alternative rock band Lush. Early life Acland was born at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary in Lanca ...

– drums Technical personnel * Pete Bartlett – production * Paul Q. Kolderie – mixing * Sean Slade – mixing * Giles Hall – engineering * Liam Molloy – engineering assistant * v23 – art direction and design * Ichiro Kono – photography

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1996 singles 1996 songs 4AD singles British new wave songs Lush (band) songs Music videos directed by Mark Pellington Reprise Records singles Songs with feminist themes