This is a young
precocious album shot through with good old scally suss.
Record Collector

... how could this band be forgotten about? It truly is a wonder. Mike Badger flames on his best impression of a cosmic scouse Ray Davies. Truly inspiring music.
Poptones Review

A collection of Songs ,Out-Takes ,Ideas and Sketches from 1983 to 2003

So, while supposedly "lo-fi" recordings can sometimes be responsible for 'alternative' music's most heinous crimes, in Mike Badger's capable hands, these excursions are usually intriguing at least and always crackling with passion and soul.

Tim Peacock (Whisperin & Hollerin )
- for the full review click here.

2000 (Double Zero)

'Badger breaks with his acoustic past by going electric and offering a brace of Vox textured, two minute ,two chord, under-class anthems. All chiming guitar jangle and Liverpudlian gutter defiance - softened by honeyed harmonizing from 'Space's Tommy Scott.' Phil Mather (Big Issue In The North)

"Tracks like 'Bottom Of The Hill' and 'Fashion Victim' sound like refugees from a lost Buzzcocks album. The John Barryesque bass motif of 'Shadow of the Real World' and sitar like guitars of 'Field of Heartache' hark back effectively to different sixties pop traditions - Had the La's been able to accommodate Badger and Lee Mavers, could world domination have been far away?" Steve Rippon (Mojo)

"Double Zero is a tight joyously melodic collection of a dozen absolutely effervescent
guitar driven pop songs and storming garage- psych rockers-a terrific album."
Goldmine(USA), Oct 2001.

1999 Breakloose The La's (1984-1986)

"An ebullient and uplifting ode to togetherness, combining blissful harmonies, Biblical imagery and a terse infectious backbeat -'Open Your Heart 'is one of several unreleased gems that have lain unheard in Badger's attic, since he parted ways with 'Mavers' shortly after it was recorded" Gavin Martin (Uncut)

"From the eco-conscious rockabilly of 'Trees and Plants' to the reggae instrumental 'Dovecot Dub' ,it's a fascinating document of a band looking for a direction ,with the spirited title track and the salacious 'My Girl Sits Like a Reindeer' pointing the way to future glory" Gavin Martin (Uncut)

"The band's future promise and prowess shines through across the board - 'Lost La's'
proves that the originality for which they where subsequently praised, was a part of their arsenal right from the very beginning."

Jo-Anne-Greene Goldmine (USA)

1999 (Volume)

"On the face of it an album of acoustic songs for guitar and piano, the simple timelessness of 'Reach for the Stars' 'Poverty of the Heart' and 'Silent Secrets' suggests that they too ,could have been found on the wind tossed Liverpool Streets."
RM (Big Issue in The North)

"What's obvious from this record is Badger's composing ability, with at least half of the twelve tracks having classic potential."
Paul Du Noyer (Mojo)

"It is a quiet ,beautiful album ,made in the spirit of 'Astral Weeks' which grows with every listen and sounds as if it where made for dark evenings or the quiet of Sunday morning." Jon Bennett (The Journal)

"Volume is his first crack at stardom, although it's self effacing nature suggests that stardom is the last thing that he wants ,Badger has staked out classic singer-songwriter
territory ,with these gentle ,inquisitive songs" The Guardian (Jan 1999)

"For the most part he goes it alone, underpinned occasionally by shades of accordion,
piano or cello ,or with florid interludes like the brief chamber coda of "When We're Alone" MW

"Delicate, beautiful ,dizzying and dreamlike ,it's packed with gorgeously fragile songs, coloured with purity and subtlety , all imparted in a warm comforting voice. If you can describe an album by a man that has been doing this for ten years as a debut- this is one hell of a debut." Ian Salmon (Bigmouth Magazine)

"Lee Mavers clearly wasn't the sole custodian of song-writing gold ."
(Select Magazine-News)

1994 (The Pool Of Life Revisited CD/Cass)

"Unlike most Country/Rockabilly, you think you've heard a million times before ,the Onsets' humour and deep heart felt compassion creates an original vibe anointing whosoever feels utterly languid with a new knowledge ."
Billy Doherty (Groove Magazine)

"The album oozes with a mixture of styles and textures to appeal to all emotions;
guaranteed to make you want to stomp your feet, slap your thighs ,smile and sigh all at the same time .For Blues and Country freaks it's an absolute must-For any other freaks…..you'd probably enjoy it too!"
Jonathan Street (Shout Magazine)

Pete Frame

1989 (What Say You EP)

"At the first listening they have shades of the Byrds 5D period ,in the guitar style ,the two players bouncing off one another to create an amazing colour of sound-Hey Bo Diddley-Hey Jimi Hendrix, the influences -from folk blues to swampland rockabilly.
Rob (Shout Magazine)

What Say You EP "The title track is literate Rockabilly with synchronistic lyrical pointers to Mandella and Hendrix, "First I Feel You' is a glorious slice of chiming, jangling pop ,that storms the brain and lays siege to the memory cells."
John Hodgkinson (Shout Magazine)

1988-The Onset (The Pool Of Life LP )

"The most arresting group in captivity - younger than yesterday, fresher than tomorrow" Pete Frame (Rock Family Trees)

"Advertised loosely as a 'Folk Rock' group, their music also draws copiously from Rockabilly, Blues and Jazz, without ever sounding obviously derivative, and the songs all possess a knowing human touch- marvelous." Tim Peacock (Melody Maker)

"Really and truly, all the Hillbilly carpings are one of the finest things that Probe Plus have delivered-this irreverent bunch must be a dream band"
Simon Jones (Folk Roots)

"You can talk about variety in their songs- everything from Rock'n'Roll to Country - but the overall effect is a sparkling coherence full of spirit and warmth"
Penny Kiley (Melody Maker)

"Tumbledown garage eclecticism from this Liverpudlian band, under the imprint of their home city's premier left field record shop." The Independent

"Dedicated to Rainbow Warriors, Freedom Fighters and Sun Dancers, The Pool of Life explores the world ,the Universe and everything else, from war games to starving children-it proves to be a worldly Hobos' guide to the galaxy."
Cathi Unsworth (Sounds)

1986-The La's ( Elegance ,Charm & Deadly Danger LP)

"If Tom Waits had come from Widnes he might of dreamt up the La's 'Sweet 35'."
Bill Prince (NME )

"Elegance: straighten your face for the La's who sing "My Girl Sits Like a Reindeer"
without smiling. Their deadpan blues/rock'n'roll songs are slightly surreal and exquisitely cool." Penny Kiley (Melody Maker)