Tuesday, August 8, 2017

#440: My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)




Zack: Fun fact: I don’t like shoegaze and straight up hate My Bloody Valentine. I have no idea why. The music just does not jive with my constitution. That was super true for the band’s 2013 reunion album mbv and it was super duper true of Loveless. I could not wait for this album to be over. I hated the screeching. I hated the mumbling. I hated everything about it. It just is not for me. That said, My Bloody Valentine are critical darlings and I wouldn’t say the album is bland, per se, like so many other critical darling bands from Ireland tend to sound (cough…U2…cough). So it is totally possible that others could listen to this album and have a religious experience or something. I don’t know who those people are, but I’m guessing they exist. Otherwise, My Bloody Valentine are just one incredible practical joke.
Favorite Tracks: Sometimes; When You Sleep, Loomer

Emily: I don't quite get shoegaze music. It's mumbly and noisy and distorted and muddled. Frankly, much of it sounds the same as everything else in the genre. There's nothing bright, striking, or unique about it. It's like gazing at your shoes but your shoes are covered in various shades of mud. Loveless exemplified these features of the genre, and probably for that reason I totally didn't get it. I thought it was repetitive and muddy and boring. Also, it took three years and several hundred thousand dollars to make, but I'm not exactly sure where that time and money went except to distortion equipment. I could see the influence Loveless and My Bloody Valentine has on some later grunge/post-grunge/alternative artists, like the Smashing Pumpkins, but to me that's all this was good for.
Favorite Tracks: Soon; Only Shallow; Come In Alone

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