Slowdive - Holding Our Breath (1991)

Quality: 5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 5 out of 5

Although only an EP, Holding Our Breath stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Slowdive's masterful album, Souvlaki. I find Slowdive's music to be a narcotic, and this disc is truly addictive. I think it's a prime example for anyone trying to validate the shoegazer trend in the early 1990's. In fact, I'd play this for some one before the Bloody Valentine's Loveless.

Kicking of the EP is one of my favorite songs, "Catch The Breeze." The song is basically the definition of the word "dreamy." Unlike many shoegazing bands, it's not too difficult to make out the lyrics here, and they're not half bad. Of course the real hook here is in the atmospherics. I always felt that guitar effects were a bit of a crutch, but they really are used as their own imaginative instrument throughout this EP. Slowdive also makes the most out of codas on this recording. Even after they've delivered on "Catch the Breeze," they blast into a truly heavenly burst of noise.

An even better coda comes in the cover of Syd Barrett's (and James Joyce's I suppose) "Golden Hair." Flirting with blasphemy, I'm going to say that I prefer this to Barrett's version. Rachel Goswell's vocal are beautiful, yet almost disembodied sounding and truly creepy. And they one up the original with an original coda that once again climbs to the heavens. Perhaps they overuse this trick, but they do it so well.

The band continues to ride out this groove on the happily floaty "Shine," befor plunging into complete darkness on Albatross. The raging (yet still strangely beautiful) guitars and tribal percussion takes the listener straight into Dante's Inferno. The tom drums in particular never fail to send a cold shiver down my spine.

I really can't recommend this one highly enough.

Buy Me:
Slowdive - Just For A Day (EP included on a bonus disc)

Slowdive - Morningrise (1991)

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Wow! Slowdive takes an amazing leap forward on their second EP Morningrise. Both the songwriting and production are now very much up to speed and I feel matches any of their shoegazing contemporaries.

The guitars now reach out for ethereal space, creating a gauze that envelops your brain. Slowdive's rhythm section functions almost like electronic music, eschewing any flashy display to provide a steady pulse and ground the songs as much as possible. The vocals are heavily echoed and doused with reverb, valiently trying to link the more interstellar guitar sounds with the backbone bass and drums. At the end of "She Calls," the vocals finally give up, and lift the song to a new plateau.

If there's any fault here, Morningrise (in retrospect) seems almost like a dry run for the band's next single. The title track and "She Calls" both include aural and lyrical suggestions of the next EP's lead-off track, "Catch The Breeze." While both awesome songs, they fall a little short of one of Slowdive's signature songs. The almost ambient "Losing Today" delves into some darker territory that Slowdive would explore in greater detail on later releases.

Still, Morningrise delivers the goods. While the first EP did include a few telltale signs, Morningrise is the sound of a band entering the top of the game.

We'll just ignore the fact that the title conjures up some dirty images (well, it does for me dammit!).

Buy Me:
Slowdive - Just For A Day (EP included on a bonus disc)

Slowdive- Slowdive (1990)

Quality: 3 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4 out of 5

Slowdive was already a step or two behind the British shoegazing scene. Not creatively mind you. At their best, I'd take Slowdive over the more reknown My Bloody Valentine anyday. They never quite had the timing to make it though. While more successful competition like the aforementioned Valentines and Ride had already finished making their names through EPs and were preparing their big album statements, Slowdive stumbled in with their first EP in 1990.

The seeds of what would make Slowdive great can be deduced here, but the eponymous EP does not represent the band in full flower. Slowdive would eventually hit upon a vein of dream pop completely divorced from the blues basis of rock and even had little to do with punk. Listening to most of Slowdive's recordings is a narcotic in and of itself. Unfortunately the three songs (well, really two) here are lacking in a few areas.

The first area is production. After this album, the band's recordings would create an amazing, dreamy sheen. Even when blasting at top volume, they still seemed quiet. On the title track of this EP they are noticably loud. Also, while soon the band would master their guitar effects to the point that it's often impossible to tell quite what they're doing, it's a little too bare bones here.

Primary songwriter Neil Halstead hadn't quite found his songwriting groove either (for those keeping count, this would be area #2). While both "Slowdive" and "Avalyn 1" have cool riffs, the band basically just pummels them into the ground without much change. This is even more a problem as the third track here is "Avalyn 2," an eight minute instrumental take.

The Slowdive EP is basically the band's baby pictures. It's kind of cute, and we get an inkling of where the band is going, but it's definitely more of a starting point than a notable work. Hmm... I think I'm mixing and confusing my metaphors. I'll quit while I'm behind.

Buy Me:
Slowdive - Just For A Day (EP included on a bonus disc)