Song of the Day: My Bloody Valentine - "Soon"

My Bloody Valentine closed out their seminal 1991 shoegaze album Loveless with something shocking: an extremely danceable track called "Soon".

Loveless was a record-length exploration of noise and melody masterminded by guitarist Kevin Shields. On it, Shields combines the quavering tremolo tones of surf guitar with layers of Marshall amp distortion. The effect is the auditory equivalent of rapidly focusing a camera lens in and out, something Shields dubbed "glide guitar". On much of "Soon", it sounds less like he's playing guitar and more like he's shifting the gears of a massively distorted engine.

An electronic drumbeat provides the pulse of "Soon", and Shields' guitars engage and disengage over verse and chorus. Which is which? The low-mixed murmur of Bilinda Butcher's vocals provides little evidence as to song structure.

With this tune, My Bloody Valentine realized the crux of shoegaze and dance music in an undeniable groove. No one's done it better since.

One cautionary plea: this song (and the whole of Loveless) deserves much better replay than what your iPod earbuds can offer. The best bet is a pair of over-ear headphones or at the bare minimum, speakers you can crank to Spinal Tap-worthy levels.