My Bloody Valentine / Isn't Anything

Three years before 1991's Loveless, My Bloody Valentine's masterwork of impossibly dense soundscapes, the Dublin quartet offered some fairly affecting dream pop on its first full-length album, Isn't Anything. Both worthy of Creation's "shoe-gazing" heritage and skewed enough to stand up next to pre-grunge guitar bands like Sonic Youth and the Pixies, the record makes the most of a group that hadn't yet found its bearings. And at its best, Isn't Anything hints at how great it will be when their sonic discoveries are finally honed. --Roni Sarig

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