My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine are an Irish shoegaze band from Dublin, Ireland, active from 1983 to the present. The group’s best-known lineup includes Kevin Shields, Bilinda Butcher, Debbie Googe and Colm Ó Cíosóig, with later membership also including David Conway and Tina Durkin. Their line-up centres on Shields, who writes, sings and plays guitar, and on Ó Cíosóig, the band’s original drummer. Butcher and Googe join them in the most familiar configuration of the band.

Style and significance

Their work is associated with alternative rock, dream pop, indie pop, indie rock, noise pop and noise rock, and they are widely identified with shoegaze. Their early records are especially significant in that development: the 1988 album Isn't Anything is regarded as an influential release and an important precursor to the early 1990s shoegazing scene. Their 1991 album Loveless is also considered one of the most important albums of the decade.

Career history

The band forms in Dublin in 1983. After Isn't Anything and Loveless, they leave Creation Records in 1992 and sign to Island Records. Their later period is marked by a long lack of activity, with repeated rumours of unreleased material. The group splits in 1997, then reunites in 2007 and returns to live performance the following year.

In 2008 they play public shows for the first time in thirteen years, beginning with “Live Rehearsal” performances at the ICA in London, followed by festival appearances in the UK and elsewhere. Their third album, m b v, is self-released in 2013.

Members and associated acts

Alongside Shields, Butcher, Googe and Ó Cíosóig, the band’s membership history also includes David Conway and Tina Durkin. Googe leaves to form Snowpony. Ó Cíosóig later forms Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions with Hope Sandoval, formerly of Mazzy Star. Shields also works intermittently with other acts, including Experimental Audio Research, Curve and Primal Scream.

Influences and labels

Influences named in connection with the band include The Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Cocteau Twins, late-1970s Wire, The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Pastels. Kevin Shields also names The Beach Boys and The Ramones as personal influences. The group’s labels include Creation Records, Island, Domino and mbv records.

Name

The band takes its name from a low-budget Canadian slasher film.