Lee Mavers joined in 1984 as rhythm guitarist, eventually gaining songwriting prominence and emerging as the band's enduring figurehead.

[3] The band attracted the attention of several record labels after a series of performances in their hometown in 1986, and demo tapes copied from a session at the Flying Picket rehearsal studio in Liverpool began circulating.

When it was released in October 1987, it broke into the top 100 and was praised by the Smiths' frontman Morrissey in the music magazine Melody Maker, but attracted little notice.

The band continued to perform around the UK and gained success as a live act, drawing comparisons to the Beatles due to their origins, vaguely Merseybeat sound, and Mavers' expressive lyrics.

After working with producer Jeremy Allom at the Pink Museum Studio in Liverpool in May 1989, the band were set to release "Timeless Melody" as a single.

The La's then spent two years fruitlessly recording and re-recording their intended debut album, with a constantly changing band line-up, where only the core of Mavers and Power remained the same.

The previously volatile band line-up settled in 1989 with Lee's brother, Neil Mavers on drums, and Peter "Cammy" Cammell as lead guitarist.

The group then entered London's Eden Studios in December 1989 to again record their debut album with Simple Minds and U2 producer Steve Lillywhite.

Bassist John Power left the group on 13 December 1991, frustrated with having played essentially the same set of songs since 1986, and resurfaced a year later with his band Cast.

The comeback was brought about due to a merchandising debt from the 1991 U.S. tour and the band played support slots to artists such as Oasis, Paul Weller and Dodgy.

In 1996, Mavers began recording at The Arch studio in Kew, London owned by ex-the Damned drummer Rat Scabies.

[7] Initially working alone, he was later joined in the studio by ex-the Stairs frontman Edgar Jones, Lee Garnett and Neil Mavers.

[12][13] After three concerts, Miniski was replaced as drummer by roadie Jim "Jasper" Fearon,[14] who was Mavers' school friend and one time bass player for the La's.

[23] Following this Mavers and Murphy reformed the La's and played a series of "stripped back" shows across the UK and Europe[24] including a performance at Rock en Seine festival in France in August 2011.

Lee Mavers has described their sound as "rootsy"[25] and "raw and organic",[26] whilst AllMusic have noted the band's "simple, tuneful, acoustic-driven arrangements".

[27] The La's were also noted for their distinctly different style to other popular British bands in the late 1980s, such as the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays,[26][27] who were part of the Madchester movement.

[28][29] Founding member Mike Badger has named Captain Beefheart as the La's' main influence; the band have also cited artists such as Bo Diddley, Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong,[30] the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Kinks,[31] Bob Marley,[26] Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix,[29] Duke Ellington,[32] and Ella Fitzgerald[33] as influences.

Mike Badger and Paul Hemmings later played together in the Onset and started The Viper Label, releasing many early recording compilations by the La's.

In common with many tapes from the 90s and earlier they had become sticky and required baking to restore the oxide binder to its original condition and make them playable; this was carried out at London's FX Copyroom.

Neil Mavers and Cammell briefly reunited once more in 2002, performing with another former La's member, guitarist Barry Sutton in Heavy Lemon.

Cammell also performed with Sutton again in his jam-style project Beatnik Hurricane in 2015, playing dates in Liverpool, including residencies at The Everyman Bistro and a tour of Ireland, most notably a sold-out show in Dublin.

[citation needed] In 2018, a BBC TV comedy-drama series entitled There She Goes features a cover version of the La's song of that name.