Loveless is an astonishing album, strongly based on shimmering noisy guitar, released in 1991.  The lyrics are hard to decipher but they sound like erotic murmurings in your head. Youtube features versions of some of the songs that were released as singles or EPs, such as Soon and Only Shallow, and you can also find some of their live performances from the time, which were renowned for being incredibly loud that most of the audience would leave before the end.  It's psychedelic music that gave rise to many other derivative bands with a heavier touch.  The songs on Loveless are all reasonably short and ephemeral, while most of their copyists tend to resort to ten or twenty minute songs that are more angry than beautiful.  The genius of Loveless is hard to pin down, but it is easy to recognize. 

Mike McGonigal's book about Loveless sets out various accounts of how the album got made, what studios were used, what guitar and recording techniques were used to make the distinctive sound.  It says a little about Kevin Shields' personal life, especially the crumbling relationship that inspired the title of the album.  There's discussion of why the album took so long to record.  So for fans of the album, it provides interesting information.

Unfortunately, the book has very little on the significance of the work or what the different songs might mean.  The writing is readable but not great, and while it is clear that McGonigal did a good deal of interviewing and reading of old interviews for the book, the chapters feel rather thrown together.  So ultimately this work reads more like the gushing prose of a fan of the band than a thoughtful analysis of the album. 

Links:

·         Master's Thesis by David R. Fisher on Loveless

·         Wikipedia entry on Loveless

·         MBV Myspace page

© 2008 Christian Perring

Christian Perring, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York.