Don't Call It a Comeback, My Bloody Valentine

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 | 8:18 AM

The re-united, My Bloody Valentine, announced the initial dates of their U.S. tour happening later this year (see below). The band's long-awaited comeback show will be held in London on June 20. As Pitchfork Media recently pointed out, no one has seen any press photos of the current-day My Bloody Valentine roster--which makes their first appearance even that more intriguing.

(left: Kevin Shields, in the early 90's.)

Some youngsters out there my only recognize "My Bloody Valentine" as a the title of a Good Charlotte song, but the reason everybody's giddy about the band's reunion is because they pretty much disappeared in the early 90's. Following the critical acclaim of their 1991 album, Loveless, My Bloody Valentine signed to Island records, built a studio, apparently had some headaches with it, thought too much about their next album (frontman, Kevin Shields, wrote hours and hours of material), and besides a couple compilation songs, have been on hiatus/break-up ever since.

In 2003, Kevin Shields contributed four songs to the Lost in Translation soundtrack, which also featured a My Bloody Valentine track. This was a good indication, at least to me, that a My Bloody Valentine reunion wasn't out of the question. Four years later, Shields announced that the band was reunited, and this summer, they will play their first live show in well over 15 years.

Whenever a current band's music is described as "ethereal," "shoegazing," or "shimmering," there's a good chance they were influenced by My Bloody Valentine's distorted-dreamy-pop sound. (Just givin' the youngsters some context.)

Sept. 19-21: Monticello, N.Y. (All Tomorrow's Parties festival)
Sept. 22: New York, NY: Roseland
Sept. 23: New York, NY: Roseland
Sept. 25 Toronto, Ontario: Ricoh
Sept. 27: Chicago, IL: Aragon Ballroom
Sept. 30: San Francisco, CA: The Concourse
Oct. 1: Los Angeles, CA: Santa Monica Civic
Oct. 2: Los Angeles, CA: Santa Monica Civic