at a glance...

Hometown: Yoevil, Somerset, England
Year Formed: 1991

Members :
Polly Jean Harvey -vocals, guitar, etc.
Robert Ellis -drums
Steve Vaughan -bass

Bands In The Family:
John Parish, Radiohead, Automatic Dlamini, Elastica, Laika, Spleen, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Grape, The Family Cat, Pascal Comelade, Tricky, Moonshake, Tom Waits, The Birthday Party, Portishead

Notes:
Polly Jean Harvey formed her band, PJ Harvey in 1991, and they released their debut single "Dress" that year on Too Pure. This was followed by "Sheela-Na-Gig," which drew critical raves, and their debut LP Dry, released on Island on both sides of the Atlantic. The music press in America and Britain hailed it as a monumental debut. The even-noisier, Steve Albini-produced Rid of Me LP arrived in 1993, and the following tour saw PJ Harvey opening stadium shows for U2. She released a solo album called 4-Track Demos, which included both outtakes and previously unheard songs, before the arrival of To Bring You My Love . A related project, Dance Hall at Louse Point, saw her collaborate on a set of songs with guitarist John Parish, further exploring her interest in traditional music. 1998 saw the release of the masterpiece Is This Desire?, which somehow appropriated the trip-hop zeitgeist tastefully.

Links:
PJ Harvey--Workin' For The Man
Nice looking site with pics, discography and lyrics.

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The first time I heard of PJ Harvey was via an article in Interview magazine. I was still a young lad in high school, sitting in my room and thumbing the pages, when I came across a picture of a frail, intense woman squeezed into a small bathtub. Her eyes & lips jumped out at me, and I honestly can't remember if she was naked, or in jet black - but the lip of the tub was a stark white ring around her. Nevertheless, the raw contrast of the photograph was a harbinger of things to come.

Dry found its way to my eardrums, and the interplay of seductive vocal melodies, high-adrenalin, guitars, primal lyrics, impassioned strings, Steve Vaughan's pumping rhythmic bass, and Rob Ellis' feverish tumults of virtuoso drumming left just as vivid an impression as that photo. Stir in equal parts sweat, machismo, linen & lace, dirty pillows, bodybags, clothes stripped away to reveal nakedness, and there you have it.

And how could such a little body make such a big noise? Predating the riot grrl movement, and stubbornly refusing to be a card-carrying member of it, Polly consistently emits a more genuine and less pedantic cry against misogyny than her followers. If nothing else, she should be remembered for not being ashamed to express female rage, long before the Alanis Morrisettesand Meredith Brookses of the world.

If you like PJ Harvey, check out:
PJ Harvey Rid Of Me
PJ Harvey To Bring You My Love
The Breeders Pod
Jane's Addiction Ritual de la Habitual
Sonic Youth Dirty
Patti Smith Horses

-- Lars Rosenblum Sorgenfrei