A Short History of My Bloody Valentine

Chief songwriter and all round main man Kevin Shields appears to be a perfectionist. His band have released two of the most influential and innovative albums, well, since 'pop' began. The band have released nothing since 1991. Shields has worked on a few remixes and dabbled with side projects but has yet to sprinkle his magic sonic dust on any new My Bloody Valentine material.

In the beginning My Bloody Valentine were a pretty average post-punk goth band. They started in Dublin but having spent a period of time in Berlin their sound became a little more goth than post-punk. After moving to London Shields & co. began playing intense live sets a little like the Birthday Party. It was at this time, around the mid eighties, that Shields discovered noise and by 1987 the sound of the band had changed completely. My Bloody Valentine now embraced bubblegum pop but skewed it with fuzzy guitar bursts while retaining bubblegum's love of a good tune. Alan McGee, head of Creation Records, signed the band to his label. They added a new vocalist / guitarist Bilinda Butcher to the line up which now consisted on Shields, Butcher, Colm O'Ciosoig and bassist Debbie Googe. Having previously released a number of poorly received EP's the band's new sonic direction yielded immediate results.

The first results of this new direction came with the release of the EP "You Made Me Realise". Possibly the greatest alternative / indie song ever written and definitely one of the most influential and genre defining moments in rock history. It sounds like nothing else and still appears fresh and totally innovative and the work of a true original. Amidst the sonic storm lies a beautifully fractured tune that paves the way towards the infamous 'holocaust' middle section that seems to take on a time frame all of its own as if speeding through a tunnel that appears to loop back on itself as the sonic storm gains strength and depth until the listener is thrown back into the main thrust of the song. Its difficult to imagine how Shields and the band came up with the idea let alone managed to get those ideas down on tape. Unbelievable.

In 1988 My Bloody Valentine released the album "Isn't Anything" and it is astonishing. Gone were the frail goth impersonations and the light fuzzed-up bubblegum pop. Instead the album focused on sound over song but kept the infectious tunes. "Feed Me With Your Kiss" used a heavy bass riff to drive the song on and it featured Kevin Shield's trademark 'glide' guitar which mixes up delay and sticky-taped tremolo arm. The drums sounded like a completely original instrument again as they curiously seemed to fade in and out on the drum rolls and fills. Buried under all this noise are the vocals, shared between Shields and Butcher. Through all this noise the singing clearly carried a proper tune, and its proper singing, something which was definitely not on the agenda of many indie and alternative bands at the time. There's also a seemingly odd song structure that underpins all this innovation. The bass riff increases in length with each repetition before diving back into the sweet verse. When first released the album sounded like nothing ever heard before and it sounded like the coolest thing on Earth.

Other tracks on the album do away with the guitar completely and rely on the effects unit to produce the final sound. The original guitars were erased after the effect had been achieved, just leaving the effect. Every song seems to achieve a unique sonic setting to frame the gorgeous boy / girl sung tunes. A truly remarkable album.

Next came the "Glider" EP in 1990. It contains the song "Soon" which featured a looped hip-hop rhythm and sweet little top end tune amidst the white noise and ethereal vocal whisper. It was released a year before Primal Scream's dancey "Screamadelica" album and kick started the ecstasy fueled indie dance culture of the early nineties.

The band then released "Loveless". It was 1991 and it was the album that bought Creation Records to the brink of bankruptcy due to Shields' quest for perfection. The album took the best part of two years and 17 engineers to make. "Loveless" relies on sonic layers, spatial placement in the mix, a wonderful understanding of sound and noise to create a weave of harmony, dissonance and genuine compositional originality. Although the songs on "Loveless" lack the casual elegance and sonic edge of "Isn't Anything" they take it's essence and conjure a new sonic palette never before (or since) heard in music.

So, having recorded two genre defining albums the band simply stopped. They have recently reformed and played festivals though whether this reunion will lead to any new material is not known. Hopefully some new releases will come. Soon.