Lovelife, Ladykillers and Lush Quiz

Answer: No

Berenyi was originally the guitarist, although she did provide backing vocals. The original lead singer was Meriel Barham; the song 'Etheriel' is named after her and her then boyfriend Ethan. Berenyi met Barham at university. Barham's enthusiasm for the band waned and Berenyi was tasked with firing her; she later joined the Pale Saints as a guitarist on Berenyi's recommendation, and ended up becoming a permanent member.

Lush initially advertised for a new singer with Berenyi taking over on lead vocals for the time being, but she ended up becoming the singer by default as Lush were unable to find a replacement for Barham.

Answer: 4AD

Lush recorded demo tapes and two labels, Fierce Panda and 4AD, expressed interest; Berenyi was a fan of multiple bands on 4AD. The label's head, Ivo Watts-Russell, came to see them and asked them to record some demos with 4AD producer John Fryer. The result was 'Scar', a six-track mini-album featuring the songs 'Baby Talk', 'Bitter' and 'Second Sight', written by Berenyi; 'Thoughtforms', written by guitarist Emma Anderson; and 'Scarlet' and 'Etheriel', co-written by both.

Answer: Hey, Hey Helen

'Hey, Hey Helen' was originally recorded for an anti-poll tax album which was ultimately never released. They played it at one of John Peel's sessions and according to Berenyi, it was the only thing about them that interested him. The cover also appeared on 'Gala', a compilation album featuring the tracks from 'Scar' and the 'Mad Love' and 'Sweetness and Light' EPs. 'Gala' was released as an introduction to the band for the Japanese and US markets.

Answer: Spooky

Lush recorded 'Spooky' in 1991 and released it in January 1992. Like 'Mad Love', it was produced by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, Lush's labelmates. It reached Number seven on the UK Album Chart and spawned three singles: 'For Love' (one of my favourites), 'Nothing Natural' and 'Superblast!' Recording was difficult at times, as Berenyi and Anderson clashed and Guthrie increasingly did not turn up for sessions due to falling out with Watts-Russell.

Answer: 'Hypocrite' and 'Desire Lines'

'Desire Lines' is one of Lush's longest songs and Ivo Watts-Russell's favourite. It was released on 30th May 1994 along with the more upbeat 'Hypocrite'. While 'Spooky' was an atmospheric shoegaze album and 'Lovelife', the third album, was more in keeping with the Britpop bands of the time, 'Split' straddled the two genres. Neither song troubled the charts and 'Split' peaked at Number 19 on the UK Album Chart.

Recording the album was also a lengthy process; Watts-Russell was displeased with producer Mike Hedges' mixing, so the album needed to be remixed completely. Alan Moulder was charged with remixing 'Split', and luckily, the result sounded better.

Answer: Jarvis Cocker

Berenyi had written 'Ciao!' as a duet for herself and drummer Chris Acland, but Acland got cold feet, so Berenyi's then partner John suggested asking Pulp's Jarvis Cocker instead. Other members of the band were worried about Lush cashing in on Pulp's recent success and insisted that the song not be released as a single (and it wasn't). Cocker did the song in two takes and wrote the monologue in the middle section.

Watts-Russell disapproved of the song, but the Beautiful South liked 'Ciao!' enough to cover it for their 2004 covers album 'Gold Diggas, Head Nodders & Pholk Songs'.

Answer: Anthony Kiedis

Berenyi admitted that 'Ladykillers' was specifically tailored to 'give the rabble what they seemed to be asking for', with handclaps and the 'I wanna tell him' lead-in to the chorus. Lush had played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Lollapalooza and Kiedis had flirted with Berenyi, constantly steering conversations towards her love life. Berenyi made it clear that nothing had happened between them and 'he was just a bit of a [censored]'.

The second verse, beginning with 'Blondie was with me for the summer/He flirted like a maniac, but I wouldn't bite', is about Kiedis. Just to ram the point home, the video featured an actor who looked a bit like Kiedis.

Answer: Suicide

Acland and Berenyi were briefly a couple and remained friends afterwards; they had met at university. Acland had been suffering from depression and split up with his girlfriend, and Berenyi spoke to him the night before his death. The following day, he took his own life, aged 30. Anderson had announced two days earlier that she was unhappy and wanted to leave the band, but after Acland's death, Lush decided they could not continue without him and officially split up just over a year later.

Answer: Sing-Sing

4AD had given Berenyi and Anderson money for equipment to make solo records, and Anderson teamed up with singer Lisa O'Neill, who had previously worked with dub producer Mad Professor and French electronic musician Kid Loco. Elastica drummer Justin Welch recorded a demo with them and their debut single, 'Feels Like Summer' (which I can recommend, by the way), was released on Bella Union, the label of the Cocteau Twins' Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie.

Sing-Sing released two albums on Poptones, 'The Joy of Sing-Sing' in 2001 and 'Sing-Sing and I' in 2005. They split up in 2007. Anderson later released her solo debut, 'Pearlies', in 2023. (If you like Lush's more shoegazey stuff, you'll probably like 'Pearlies'.)

Answer: Piroshka

'Piroshka' is the Hungarian equivalent of 'Little Red Riding Hood' (Berenyi is half-Japanese, half-Hungarian). Lush briefly reformed in 2015, with Justin Welch on drums, but split up again after the band members fell out for various reasons. Welch played alongside Berenyi in Piroshka with Moose and Modern English's Michael Conroy; Sharon Mew of Elastica was also briefly a member. Piroshka released two albums, 'Brickbat' in 2019 and 'Love Drips and Gathers' in 2021, on Bella Union.

Berenyi then formed the Miki Berenyi Trio with Moose and guitarist Oliver Cherer, and a drum machine. They released their debut album 'Tripla' in 2025. Lol Tolhurst of The Cure and Budgie of Siouxsie and the Banshees both guested on drums on their US tour.