Long-awaited comeback by shoe-gazing icons continues where Loveless left off
8/10
It's a curious phenomena, the comeback. Comeback from what, exactly? In the case of My Bloody Valentine, they've been away so long, with fans baying for something, anything to appear that if Kevin Shields returned an album of kazoo-playing in dub, hysteric admirers would still throw themselves in the path of his car just to experience the smell of its tyres, the screech of brakes and the undeniable pain.
And pain is something MBV know all about. If you've ever experienced one of their shows (I have), let me tell you this - you'll either pass out or throw up under the weight of the blistering cacophony that the band can emit. Or maybe you'll just cry. I witnessed one audience member at one of the Rollercoaster tour dates (with Blur etc) back in the '90s do all three. She wasn't sure what to do at one stage - should she leave, go to the toilet or order another drink? She opted instead to faint, before getting propped up by her friends into a near-vertical position then hurling her cider orally and horizontally at an unsuspecting fire-extinguisher, before turning around to witness Shields and co unleash the loudest artillery of incomprehensible feedback during what could only be described as a blizzard of clusterfucks. Then she cried. Loudly. I thought she was in the band. She wasn't. She was merely being a witness to the death of her own tympanic membrane.
But despite, or even because of, their trademark caterwaul, the band regularly bathe their feedback-drenched offensive with esoterics and beauty. Their 1988 debut-album "Isn't Anything" is a punishing garage-grunge splatter, but rather lovely, while the mercurial "Loveless" turned out to be Brian Eno's favourite album for a bit (hardly surprising when a sonic professor doffs a cap to this lot). And "m b v"..?. well, it's a bit of both.
Let me warn you now - from the opening "She Found Now", past the sonically comatose "Only Tomorrow" and up to the languid throb of "If I Am", things do tend to grind a bit. Sure, it's as technically capable as you'd expect but a little bit monochrome. It's only at the halfway point that things start to vary and proceed to captivate. "New You" is glorious, a subtle pretty hook carries Bilinda's deft vocals through to a suitable velvety conclusion, strengthened by a lolloping groove, while the first brutal classic of the album, "In Another Way", pummels like only a MBV track can pummel. You'll bloody love it.
The short "Nothing Is" is, well, nothing to write home about, a repetitive bludgeon of beats, before the real beauty on this set appears, steps on the gas and unleashes a Hell of power for all to, erm, enjoy. "Wonder 2" which, when performed live, could incite a riot inside your head, possibly resulting in your eardrums firebombing your cerebellum in revenge. I have some reference points - Aphex Twin's drill 'n' bass period, Aussie mind-manglers Severed Heads in full no-pop throttle, Non (no explanation needed), Stockhausen (ditto) and the sound of what six jumbo jets might produce if thrown at Rammstein's house. I'm glad you've made a mental picture of that. That's what "Wonder 2" sounds like.
When this gets a 'proper' release, the sadist in me prays that it sells enough to reach #1 - It just might. It just should.
8/10
And pain is something MBV know all about. If you've ever experienced one of their shows (I have), let me tell you this - you'll either pass out or throw up under the weight of the blistering cacophony that the band can emit. Or maybe you'll just cry. I witnessed one audience member at one of the Rollercoaster tour dates (with Blur etc) back in the '90s do all three. She wasn't sure what to do at one stage - should she leave, go to the toilet or order another drink? She opted instead to faint, before getting propped up by her friends into a near-vertical position then hurling her cider orally and horizontally at an unsuspecting fire-extinguisher, before turning around to witness Shields and co unleash the loudest artillery of incomprehensible feedback during what could only be described as a blizzard of clusterfucks. Then she cried. Loudly. I thought she was in the band. She wasn't. She was merely being a witness to the death of her own tympanic membrane.
But despite, or even because of, their trademark caterwaul, the band regularly bathe their feedback-drenched offensive with esoterics and beauty. Their 1988 debut-album "Isn't Anything" is a punishing garage-grunge splatter, but rather lovely, while the mercurial "Loveless" turned out to be Brian Eno's favourite album for a bit (hardly surprising when a sonic professor doffs a cap to this lot). And "m b v"..?. well, it's a bit of both.
Let me warn you now - from the opening "She Found Now", past the sonically comatose "Only Tomorrow" and up to the languid throb of "If I Am", things do tend to grind a bit. Sure, it's as technically capable as you'd expect but a little bit monochrome. It's only at the halfway point that things start to vary and proceed to captivate. "New You" is glorious, a subtle pretty hook carries Bilinda's deft vocals through to a suitable velvety conclusion, strengthened by a lolloping groove, while the first brutal classic of the album, "In Another Way", pummels like only a MBV track can pummel. You'll bloody love it.
The short "Nothing Is" is, well, nothing to write home about, a repetitive bludgeon of beats, before the real beauty on this set appears, steps on the gas and unleashes a Hell of power for all to, erm, enjoy. "Wonder 2" which, when performed live, could incite a riot inside your head, possibly resulting in your eardrums firebombing your cerebellum in revenge. I have some reference points - Aphex Twin's drill 'n' bass period, Aussie mind-manglers Severed Heads in full no-pop throttle, Non (no explanation needed), Stockhausen (ditto) and the sound of what six jumbo jets might produce if thrown at Rammstein's house. I'm glad you've made a mental picture of that. That's what "Wonder 2" sounds like.
When this gets a 'proper' release, the sadist in me prays that it sells enough to reach #1 - It just might. It just should.