'Loveless' at 30: Revisiting the Shoegaze Catalyst
By Ly Hagan
Artwork by Alex Ramos / Photo by Paul Rider, Courtesy of the artist
From the moment you press play, you are greeted with a wall of noise. “Only Shallow,” the opening track to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, represents much of what makes the album so legendary: a dissonant wave of distorted guitar, layered vocal breaths by Bilinda Butcher and Kevin Shields, cryptic lyrics (“Speak your trouble, she's not square / Soft like her silk, everywhere”), along with a steady drum (provided by Colm Ó Cíosóig) and bass guitar (Debbie Googe) acting as the eye to the hurricane of Kevin Shields and his guitar. As the album approaches its 30th anniversary, let’s take a moment to reflect on the album’s birth and legacy.
My Bloody Valentine was founded in South Dublin by childhood friends Shield and Ó Cíosóig. The band’s initial sound drew heavily from rockabilly, surf rock and post-punk, with their 1985 debut EP This Is Your Bloody Valentine resembling the Doors or the Cramps more so than the sound they’d become known for. Throughout the late 1980s, the band would slowly make their way up the indie charts, regularly moving cities and changing their lineup. It was while the band was in London that they met Bilinda Butcher, an amateur musician who would eventually prove crucial to the band’s identity. Their three-track single “Strawberry Wine,” released in 1987, highlights Butcher’s dreamy vocals and Shields’ experimentation with creating an ethereal guitar noise.
After signing with Creation Records, My Bloody Valentine finally reached success with the release of their debut album, Isn’t Anything. The album’s single “Feed Me With Your Kiss” embodies the harmonious dissonance the band created, as Shields and Butcher sing off each other like a dysfunctional duet. The album carries an adolescent air, with suggestive lyrics and a clamorous yet melodic guitar sound, marking a moment when the band found its footing, finally prepared to accomplish even more miraculous things.
Loveless takes the noisy experimentation of My Bloody Valentine’s earlier career and refines it. After “Only Shallow,” the album reaches a diminuendo, with the following tracks “Loomer” and “Touched” reducing in sound but nevertheless featuring heavy, fuzzy guitar. The production uses heavy reverb, tremolo manipulation, and distortion to achieve the sound. This is especially heard in “Loomer,” where the guitar’s distortion creates a truncated effect, mimicking a technological glitch. Meanwhile, “Touched” is an instrumental track composed entirely by Colm Ó Cíosóig, blending together digital and physical elements to create a fascinating interlude.
Further along the track list, “When You Sleep” is undoubtedly My Bloody Valentine’s most recognizable track. The catchy keyboard riff and upbeat rhythm make the song ever-the-more danceable, meanwhile the lyrics and layered vocals tell a story of a half-hearted relationship. “When I look at you / Oh, I don't know what's real,” the pair sings, their voices intertwining in tumultuous attraction. It is rumoured that Shields and Butcher had dated but experienced a break up prior to the recording of Loveless, which possibly made the atmosphere behind recording the album all the more “loveless”. The layered vocals were the outcome of numerous recordings and Kevin’s dissatisfaction with the vocal track. Eventually, Shields decided to play all the tracks together, some slowed down and sped up, in order to create the signature airy voice.
Shields was determined to make the perfect album, striving to accurately create the music he heard in his head. In a 2013 interview with The Guardian, he compared playing the guitar to a meditative state, “I can’t explain it,” he said. “It is magic.” However, Shields’ dedication to the album created rifts between band members and their management. My Bloody Valentine cycled through a myriad of sound engineers, producers and studios (19 studios in total!) Creation Records owner Alan McGee alleged that the album cost a total of £270,000 to create, a figure that has been contested by Shields. Needless to say, it was a tense and mentally straining environment, as the band was under financial pressure from the label, along with the physical strain of their recording sessions’ intense noise.
While awaiting the completion of Loveless, My Bloody Valentine released two EPs: Glider and Tremolo. Glider was named after Shields’ signature guitar playing style, which involved manipulation of the vibrato bar while strumming to create the recognizable warble effect. The Tremolo EP also experimented with glide guitar and pedal techniques, refining their sound in preparation for Loveless. “To Here Knows When,” from the Tremolo EP, and “Soon” from the Glider EP are both featured on Loveless. Both EPs act as portends for the Loveless era.
While much of Loveless is characterized by sonic pandemonium, the album does reach a tender ebb with “Sometimes.” The track uses the same noisy guitar sound, but it is noticeably softer and emotional. Void of a leading instrumental melody, the song relies on looping series of guitar chords and gentle vocals. “Sometimes” would go on to be featured on the soundtrack of Lost in Translation, a 2003 film with parts of its soundtracks composed by Shields. In the film, the song follows the memorable karaoke party scene. The camera pans through shots of Tokyo at dawn, capturing the introspection after a sleepless night out. Kevin Shields sings, “Close my eyes, feel me now / I don't know how you could not love me now.” The song feels like a breath outside during a boisterous party, a sort of catharsis that comes in moments of solace.
Loveless proved challenging for the band; after its release, they went into hiatus for nearly two decades (until 2013, with the release of mbv). Still, the record remains a widely beloved and influential record. The Observer calls Loveless “the last great extreme rock n roll album.” Musicians and music lovers everywhere can attest to the influence My Bloody Valentine has. Notably, post punk legend Robert Smith called Loveless one of his favourite records. Smith stated: “It was the first band I heard who quite clearly pissed all over us.” Thirty years onward, Loveless still holds up as an unequivocally unique rock album. It’s an album that remains widely loved to this day. Most remarkable is the record’s influence on the shoegaze genre, an early 90s alternative rock movement characterized by distorted guitar and airy vocals. More bands like Slowdive, Lush and Ride would join My Bloody Valentine to form the Thames Valley shoegaze scene, known by critics as the “scene which celebrates itself.”
Loveless is a rare gift to the rock world, an album that at once feels new and classic. Even as the record ages, Loveless’ themes feel timeless. The album lingers on the crests and troughs of romance, with the songs capturing both the catchy melodic ecstasy of falling in love, as well as the abrasively bitter and vitriolic sadness that occurs at an inevitable heartbreak. Loveless represents the clarity to be found in chaos. As a Rolling Stone review puts it: “In My Bloody Valentine's magical kingdom, cacophony is the mind-altering path to beauty.” It’s an album to listen to when you need to let go and drown in the noise. Loveless and its legacy truly embodies what it means to lose yourself in the music. ◆
Readings
Loveless (33 ⅓) by Mike McGonigal
The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes are Hungry for the Prize by David Cavan