at a glance...

Hometown: Yoevil, Somerset, England
Year Formed: 1991

Members :
Polly Jean Harvey -guitar, vocals, cello, violin, organ
Robert Ellis -drums, percussion, vocals
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.

If you haven't already done so, please fill out our survey. We'd really appreciate it! Plus, every 20th person will win a free CD!

Folk. Leather. Angels. Shards. Blood. Betrayal. Ropeburn. Death. Isolation. High heels. Sheet Metal. Chaos. Gasoline.

Halfway through dishing out an album with all of the above, Polly coos, "I was joking... sweet babe, let me stroke it..." Wowza. This woman has cajones most men wouldn't dream of, and writes lyrics about surreal violence and bondage that few men dare to imagine. The record rings with biblical redemption, as if Polly is a Delilah struggling to fill the shoes of the Samson she betrayed. "Good lord I'm big..." - "Man-Size." "Hey I'm one big queen, no one can stop me..." - "50ft Queenie." "Damn your chest beating, just you stop your screaming..." - "Me-Jane." Needless to say, this isn't feminism for the lighthearted.

Nor is it music for delicate ears - it's the musical equivalent of a bulldozer tearing through your living room. Rob Ellis complements his thunderous rhythmic blasts with uncanny falsetto, and Steve Albini's in full effect. If you've only heard the latest PJ Harvey records, a listen to Rid Of Me might make you think it should have been called Raw Power. It's a far cry from the pleasant, listenable To Bring You My Love - it's more of a To Bring You My Sawblade.

If you like PJ Harvey, check out:
PJ Harvey Dry
PJ Harvey To Bring You My Love
Iggy and the Stooges Raw Power
Placebo Placebo
Helium Pirate Prude
Patti Smith Horses

-- Lars Rosenblum-Sorgenfrei