On Track

Oasis - "Lyla" Don't Believe The Truth (Epic)

"Calling all the stars to fall," declares Liam Gallagher in his sneering voice at the start of the new Oasis single "Lyla." The band's first single in three years isn't anything Oasis fans haven't heard before but just the fact Oasis are gearing up in 2005 is enough for them.

Don't Believe The Truth is set for release on May 30 and marks their sixth release, not counting 1998's The Masterplan, a collection of B-Sides, or Familiar To Millions, the band's live document of their July 21, 2000 performance at Wembley Stadium.

"It's The Soundtrack of Our Lives doing The Who on Skol in a psychedelic city in the sky," said the always straightfoward Noel Gallagher about the inspiration for "Lyla." He's not lying. The Soundtrack of Our Lives were tour support for much of the 2002 Oasis campaign, while The Who invited Oasis to share the bill for the 2002 Teenage Cancer Trust charity shows at the Royal Albert Hall. So, needless to say, Noel had time to do his homework.

"Lyla" has an uncanny sound that leans more towards The Soundtrack of Our Lives, specifically "Confrontation Camp" from the Swedish group's first album Welcome To The Infant Freebase. Perhaps it's also a knod to The Kinks' "Lola" as well? Maybe "Layla"? But through Liam Gallagher's voice anyone else's song becomes an Oasis song. For good measure, Noel even resurrects his past lyrical work. The line "Catch me if I fall" also appears in "I Hope, I Think, I Know," from the band's third album, the only album Noel might put an asterisk next to in the Oasis catalog, Be Here Now. And let's not forget the Beatles association. The timeless arguments that Oasis have made a career off the mopped-topped Liverpoolians can now be laid to rest with the addition of Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey as their new drummer, replacing longtime member Alan White.

Everything that makes an Oasis song are at work in "Lyla" but with little variation. Attitude has always been the key component to their songs regardless of the narrow subject matter Noel Gallagher is writing about. "Lyla" is a good rock and roll song--no more, no less. Noel Gallagher is a mirror to the past. His songs will always breathe with a flash of The Beatles, The Who, T-Rex, and The Rolling Stones. What the hell does "Yellow Submarine" mean today? He's a hit or miss songwriter, and he'll be the first to admit he's not an English scholar. But have polished skills in poetry ever been a requirement to write a rock and roll song?