My Bloody Valentine "Isn't Anything" LP

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