Continuing my latest Decades installment, focusing on the year 1991, brings us to Irish band My Bloody Valentine’s sophomore release, Loveless.
My Bloody Valentine is considered the pioneer of the shoegazing genre, a type of alternative rock featuring heavy guitar distortion and muffled vocals. In fact, they might be the first, best and last example of a shoegazing band because the genre quickly fizzled out and branched into grunge on the one hand and Britpop on the other.
When my Decades series gets around to 2003 (probably in a year or so), there’s no question one of my top albums from that year will be Fountains of Wayne’s Welcome Interstate Managers.
This is a great album to give anyone looking for an introduction to the band. From great power pop (‘Stacy’s Mom,’ ‘Bright Future in Sales,’ today’s SOTD) to beautiful acoustic tracks (‘Hackensack,’ ‘Valley Winter Song’) to charming love songs (‘Hey Julie’), this album serves up a little bit of everything.
‘Barbarism Begins at Home’ is a track from The Smiths’ sophomore studio album, 1984’s Meat is Murder.
It concerns corporal punishment, three years before the United Kingdom banned the practice in state-run schools. It seems many an English schoolboy who grew up before the ban went on to write songs about their experiences on the wrong end of the cane.
Ice Cube had an ugly break-up with N.W.A. in 1989, followed by his well-received solo debut, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted in 1990. A year later, his Death Certificate dropped to even better reviews.
The release also generated a lot of controversy, with Ice Cube’s lyrics (deservedly) called out as misogynistic, racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic. Let’s just say the Oscars won’t be tapping him to host anytime soon.
Power pop seems to transcend trends and find an audience no matter the decade. From The Beatles in the 60s through Todd Rundgren and Big Star in the 70s, into a legacy carried on by R.E.M. and others in the 80s and 90s.
Matthew Sweet is solidly in that tradition, and his 1991 album Girlfriend is considered one of the definitive albums both of the year and the genre.
Meet Me In Montauk 