The Valentine's have not so much made any great departure from the noise they were making in 1991, as have nearly seemed to make an album of postcard polaroids that capture each specific moment they were living through during their twenty two year hiatus. And, reflect other pop fashions and fads during that same time too, thus, making m b v 's forty seven minutes a sort of mini-history of pop from grunge/Nirvana/shoegaze/the second mighty wave of AmerIndie groups (Pixies/Dinosaur Jr/Throwing Muses, etc, ... ) to the present day.
It will be awhile before I can be satisfied being fully immersed and in to this record, but the early returns are absolutely smashing and rewarding. My favorite run of tracks right now is six through eight. Six is called New You, and it is an elegant tricky seductive deceptively simple little truffle that can take your breath away, make you swoon. Seven is called In Another Way, and somewhat resembles their old dance-y single, Soon. Eight is called Nothing Is, and it is an all-out one chord anvil smashing assault, completely enveloped by gorgeous discreet layers of their classic "glide guitar" techniques that they have been using since the old days.
It was well worth the wait. Whodathunkit?
mds
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