UK 80s bands

Alexei_K · Post by **Alexei_K** » Sun May 01, 2005 3:27 am

Thanks to the Spacemen 3 book by Erik Morse, I'm slowly becoming more acquainted with the "shoegazer" scene in the UK in the late 80s/ early '90s. I'm not familiar with any of these groups (My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdiver, etc.) but I'm curious as to whether any of them are worth checking out. Has anyone heard Psychocandy or Darklands? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. My music collection is pretty bland but I'm finally interested in hearing more... alternative music. Thanks!

Post by **runcible** » Sun May 01, 2005 12:59 pm

Both those Mary Chain albums are good. Psychocandy is a distorted, fuzzed-out slab of mayhem, Darklands is more controlled and (if you can call it that) mellow.

Slowdive are all atmosphere. Personally I got bored of them very quickly but the first couple of singles are nice and, for me, all I need.

MBV are well documented here - definitely worth checking out. The 2 albums, Isn't Anything and Loveless are regarded as essential by many, overblown by others. Whatever the opinion on them they sort of HAVE to be heard as they were a very important part of the shape of that era. I'd actually recommend some of the EPs they did from that time more as they put some of their best songs on these as sort of b-sides. Glider is wonderful, Feed Me With Your Kiss is also very good, and the whole of You Made Me Realise is fantastic. There's a song on YMMR called Slow which still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up - one of the best distorted bass sounds ever recorded and classic drone material.

Also worth a dig are Chapterhouse. I found a lot of Whirlpool, the debut album, rather contrived, but there are some great songs on there. The first 2 EPs, Freefall and Sunburst, contain more of what the Spacemen were doing and I'd say a lot more interesting than the album.

Ride's first EP (the one with Chelsea Girl) remains one of the best debut releases I've ever heard. The intensity of those songs is something that people nowadays seem to ignore in favour of their more shoegazey material. Every track on that first EP is absolutely extraordinary as far as I'm concerned and this remains by a million miles their finest work. A real barrage of mangled guitar and some top notch wah-wah.

I thought Lush were rather dull but they're still talked about.

There was another band called Drop, blatant Spacemen fans - the first couple of EPs sound rather dated now but they slot into the discussed scene rather well. Bit corny in places.

Five Thirty's debut EP, Abstain, is also essential for me. More pop structured but its a fantastic record - lots of big guitar, wah-wah etc. They went downhill with every release sadly - used to be amazing live I remember.

And Loop. Despite the bitterness between them and the Spacemen it can't be ignored that they made some fantastic music. The compilation of the first 2 EPs, The World In Your Eyes, is simply glorious, as is much of the first album, Heaven's End. I didn't like that much after that but the gigs were still good. The 2 albums I've mentioned are indispensable - Burning World from the very first single is extraordinary.

Sigh - something of a golden era for music... Late 80's/early 90s. 2 or 3 gigs a week, grunge exploding, Spacemen 3 in their prime, the Pixies, then later Spiritualized beginning. Quite a time.

Post by **spzretent** » Sun May 01, 2005 4:11 pm

Oddly enough....
out of your list Lush seem to me the only band who's music seems to have gotten better with age. I listened to Gala a month ago and was stunned at how good it was. I know its a singles comp but it is really good. Start to finish.
Swervedriver are worth a mention here too. All the records are good. Particularly the singles. Great b-sides.

mark · Post by **mark** » Mon May 02, 2005 10:21 am

Rave Down Motor City

norrin radd · Post by **norrin radd** » Mon May 02, 2005 10:33 am

another great band from that period that get over looked that i heartily recommend is ultra vivid scene, im not sure if thery're english or not, but their self titled album is the buisness, nice lush melodies with drones and shoe gazery moments, its on 4ad records, check it out

stegraham · Post by **stegraham** » Tue May 03, 2005 11:47 am

Yes, Ultra Vivid Scene are great. As well as the self titled first album, the second one "Joy" is brilliant too. I'd also recommend the Pale Saints (especially the "Comfort of Madness" album and the Telescopes - both albums one and two).

10ent · Post by **10ent** » Tue May 03, 2005 11:14 pm

Had an old Best of Independant CD and there was some top stuff on it - Spritualized, Mercury Rev, My Bloody Valentine but the best was a song called Sunshine Smile by Adorable.

Have looked for their stuff on Amazon but have had no joy.

a beautiful noise · Post by **a beautiful noise** » Tue May 03, 2005 11:22 pm

i'll sell you ALL my old adorable discs. thats a shame because i even know pete from adorable. he also did a horrible project after adorable called POLAK.

xxxshonnxxx

p/s- adorable was more early 90's than 80's. just a note.

norrin radd · Post by **norrin radd** » Wed May 04, 2005 1:08 am

hey stegraham ! which are the best telescopes albums to get ? i've seen one re released on sonics label (space age recordings) is this it ?

stegraham · Post by **stegraham** » Wed May 04, 2005 9:09 am

norrin radd wrote:hey stegraham ! which are the best telescopes albums to get ? i've seen one re released on sonics label (space age recordings) is this it ?

Well, the one on Space Age is called "Altered Perception" and it's a compilation of stuff off their first and second albums, plus a couple of unreleased stuff. It depends on what stuff you like really, because the Telescopes sound is quite different on each album. The first album is mainly noisey guitars and contains the excellent "Pefect Needle", the second album is alot more mellow (and is my personal fav), and the third album ("The Third Wave") is more elecronic based and was released only a couple of years ago. The second album has just been released and is called something like " Hash - Untitled Second - The Lost Album " - I would go for that one.

jacksmiley · Post by **jacksmiley** » Fri May 06, 2005 10:35 pm

actually i think slowdive's souvlaki is a hell of a record. "alison" is a great tune (& was recorded w/ brian eno).

psychocandy is considered a classic record by many. i think it's maybe slightly overrated, but still a great noisy feedback-drenched disc.

what strikes me upon listening back on lush is how poppy they were-- good catchy tunes that sound like a 60's girl group run through multiple fuzz pedals.

swervedriver: mezcalhead

i'll third that ultra vivid scene recommendation. they were from NYC, and they're shamefully forgotten at this point. "special one", "it happens every time", and "mercy seat" are great tunes. "mercy seat" is one of my favorite songs ever; i've been known to listen to that one on repeat. some of the production on their stuff is starting to sound a bit dated, but excellent records none-the-less. the last record rev never did a whole lot for me, though.

i love ride's early stuff, but i'm also quite partial to going blank again.

might as well throw some cocteau twins in here, as well. seems like a lot of the shoegazers took a fair amount of sonic cues from the cocteau's gauzy sound.