Nick Harte’s mother used to play My Bloody Valentine for him when he was a tot. Apparently when she gave him 1991’s Loveless, that pretty much cinched it, and he began experimenting with his own sounds. Only 22, his current project that he writes and records himself, Shocking Pinks, borrows heavily from a lot of the shoegaze* bands of yore. Recently NME likens Shocking Pinks newest release to “Thurston Moore conducting the Jesus & Mary Chain Philharmonic Alt. Orchestra.” Needless to say, I like it a lot. It takes me back to when I saw these bands back in the day, and everyone I knew was starting their own bands and trying to emulate Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher (not enough people emulating Deb!). Anyway I felt quite at home.

*For anyone not familiar, “shoegaze” was a term coined by the British music press to describe the bands that were creating effects-oriented music between 1986- 1991. It ranged from the sometimes dreamy (like Cocteau Twins) to sometimes brash and loud (like Telescopes or Jesus and Mary Chain) to the combination of both dreamy and brash, such as My Bloody Valentine. What they all had in common was the use of alternative tunings and the use of effects pedals and tremolo. They were often looking down at their guitars and pedal boards, hence the name “shoegaze.” Silly, I know… but lest we forget the music press also coined the term “greabo.”

Moving along, I bring all this up for several reasons. First, I really like the new Shocking Pinks record. Second, this has all become much more relevant in the last several months since My Bloody Valentine announced their reunion tour which sold out like magic hotcakes. And third, this year we will see a film about all this, entitled Beautiful Noise (which you can bet your boots I’ll be writing about soon enough).

Until then, please take a listen to Shocking Pinks. Oh and for what it’s worth, he’s a New Zealander.

Shocking Pinks- This Aching Deal

Shocking Pinks- End of the World

Shocking Pinks- Second Hand Girl

Shocking Pinks - Shocking Pinks