Although the band had several releases since 1985, Isn't Anything is often considerd as the real debut studio album by My Bloody Valentine. It was released on 21 November 1988 by Creation Records. Its innovative instrumental and production techniques consolidated the experimentation of the band's preceding EPs and would make it a pioneering work of the subgenre known as shoegazing.
Upon its release, the album received rave critical reviews and reached number one in the UK Independent Album Chart. A 1988 year-end roundup of the year's top albums in Melody Maker ranked Isn't Anything third of the year and called it “a raving nymphomania and out-of-body experience establishes them as absent-minded rulers of this daydream nation."
Isn't Anything has subsequently become regarded as one of the greatest albums of the 1980s. The album has been included in The Guardian's list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" and ranked as number 16 in their "Alternative Top 100 Albums" list.
The NME ranked the album at 187 in its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time while Pitchfork selected the album as the 4th best shoegaze album of all time.
Isn't Anything (tracklist)
Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)
Lose My Breath
Cupid Come
(When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream
No More Sorry
All I Need
Feed Me With Your Kiss
Sueisfine
Several Girls Galore
You Never Should
Nothing Much To Lose
I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)
Bonus tracks (Originally included as bonus 7" with the album)
Instrumental A
Instrumental B
Alaska's goth rock duo, Cliff and Ivy have just unveiled their new single, "We Ignite" featuring guitarwork from Jim Babjak of The Smithereens.
"We Ignite" is the first single from Cliff and Ivy's next album called Sinister Stars, releasing early spring, 2024. The song is about lovers who escape to a passionate galaxy filled with dark glam rock-n-roll stars. Their love burns bright enough to own a universe of darkness. The lyrics for "We Ignite" are inspired by the escape of passionate love bringing you on an ecstatic journey through the cosmos.
Cliff and Ivy talk about their work with Jim Babjak: "We wanted to collaborate with musicians we've known for many years. Usually we work as a duo. This was an opportunity to do a classic rock style tune with a darker feel. Jim Babjak's lead guitar for The Smithereens has always been an inspiration. We are from the same home town, New Brunswick, NJ.
His style is pop and melodic yet still with a mysterious psychedelic rock edge. We wanted to make a song with a dark psychedelic rock feel so he could add his guitar. Brian Troisi is a long time collaborator and played drums with us in our first punk band and previous Cliff and Ivy releases."
Jim Babjak states:
"I've known Cliff since he was a 13 year old kid who used to frequent my record store in New Brunswick, NJ. This was in the early 80's years before The Smithereens had a record deal. I used to call him a diamond in the rough after he would play me some of his early recordings. It's so cool to reconnect after all these years and play guitar on this awesome record!"
"We Ignite" is available on all major digital platforms including Bandcamp.
New Jersey-based darkwave/post-punk band, Neon Funeral has just unleashed their new EP, Banned From The Goth Club courtesy of Cleopatra Records.
The EP's theme is based upon the band feeling alienated from the goth scene. The name of the EP, Banned From The Goth Club was given because of the band's challenge in finding their audience given their contradictory sound.
The band states, "The goth audience can't exactly get fully immersed into the music because of the aggression and intensity of the vocals and the hardcore scene can't exactly understand the softer and dance-driven instrumentals for moshing. We once performed at a goth venue and seemed out of place and out of touch with the audience. We then coined the phrase "Banned From The Goth Club" to welcome the eclectic sound and introduce it playfully."
The songs on Banned From The Goth Club go through different emotional undertones. "Avolition" is fast and dance-driven with a good melody. "High Tech Low Life" takes a slower, more somber approach but ends with a very fast, intense electronic sound and metal vocals. "A Void" is a very introspective song that covers questions of nihilism, drug addiction, and societal pressures. The last track is a cover of Eddie Murphy's 80s "one hit wonder", "Party All The Time".
The video for "Avolition" was filmed at a local vintage arcade and bar that the band felt would match their aesthetic well.
Banned From The Goth Club is available on all major digital outlets including Bandcamp.
Industrial band, Panic Lift completes their five EP release cycle with the new release, Again. Again features the blistering lead single, “What Happens Now?” and is accompanied by the downtempo “Timelines” along with two remixes from E.S.A. and Absynthe Of Faith.
For “What Happens Now?” Panic Lift lead singer, James Francis addresses the anxiety of watching the world around us in turmoil and the long-term effects it has on the human psyche. “In the 80’s we had the Cold War, in 90s we had Iraq, then September 11th, and now we've had COVID-19. I feel like each generation has been constantly on edge due to the world being in a constant state of upheaval, and it’s hard to ever imagine a time where we could be optimistic about the future.”
The release of Again also celebrates a milestone for Panic Lift as they complete the entire 21 song release cycle by unleashing the DOUBLE CD titled Split Pieces Stitched Together Again. This album compiles all 21 songs into a long play album format. The CD is limited to 100 copies worldwide.
Again is available on all major digital outlets including Bandcamp.
A punk power industrial sparring match between two bands, ESA & Moaan Exis yields a crushing new two-track EP, Spit & Spite courtesy of Negative Gain Productions.
In 2020, just before the first lockdown of Covid appeared on the horizon. ESA and Moaan Exis played a show together in Prague, Czech Republic. That encounter comprised of an acknowledgement of mutual respect for each others projects, along with a pinky promise that at some point we would collaborate and put something together in the future.
Fast forward three to five years and the schedules finally aligned enough to create something that we all felt deserved to actually live. The artists wanted to make sure that whatever they put together felt like a 50/50 split - like ESA ingested Moaan Exis or Moaan Exis injected ESA.
They wanted to make sure that fans of both bands were able to feel exactly what a merging of these projects would sound like. ‘Spit & Spite’ is a double A-side of absolute power. ESA’s hooked up rolling rhythms combined with Moaan Exis’ punk- like industrial energy. Moaan Exis’s snarling basslines combined with ESA’s pummeling percussion.
It's all there and in its purest form; the punk power industrial sparring match between ESA & Moaan Exis.
