A lot of people talk about My Bloody Valentine as if they emerged from the ether in 1991 with the masterpiece Loveless. 

Not only is that a drastic oversimplification, but it also ignores Isn’t Anything, which is a wonderful record in its own right.

As synonymous as the name My Bloody Valentine is with shoegaze, it’s surprising to remember that they cut their teeth as a noisy, gothy, post-punk band. And while Isn’t Anything bears little resemblance to This Is Your Bloody Valentine, there are still traces of that punkish brutality buried in the hazy swirl of noise.

“Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)” opens the record with a machine-gun like drum fill and ripping bass fill from Debbie Googe and abrasive squalls of guitar. “[When You Wake] You’re Still In A Dream” drives along at a hurried punk tempo with Shields’ trademark guitar noise between the verses. “Feed Me With Your Kiss” almost plays like straight noise punk, Debbie and drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig trying their best to drown out Kevin and Bilinda Butcher’s alternating sneering vocals—yes, sneering—far from the syrupy, codeine-induced coo that they’re best known for. “Nothing Left To Lose” opens with bursts of feedback and Colm’s most aggressive drumming before breaking into a laid back pop tune.

And while it may be faster and punkier than anything they did afterward, there’s a fair amount here that forecasts the transcendent bliss of Loveless. “Lose My Breath” idly strums an acoustic guitar in a cavernous atmosphere while Bilinda sings in a hushed alto. “No More Sorry” is almost entirely devoid of rhythm, instead piling layers of warped guitars and keyboards on top of one another. “All I Need” feels the most like a Loveless track, Kevin’s guitars walking the line between glistening and ear-shattering, drowning out the sound of every other instrument.

But it’s almost unfair to talk about this record as merely the seed that grew into a masterpiece. For all of its gritty abrasion and seemingly out-of-place punk attitude, Isn’t Anything is itself an important piece of shoegaze. While Loveless would become the undisputed pinnacle of the genre, Isn’t Anything is in many ways the blueprint. Kevin’s sonic explorations, Bilinda’s wooful cooing, Debbie and Colm’s aggressive rhythmic prowess are all here, drowning pop songs in noise and hallucinogens. Even if My Bloody Valentine never released their opus, Isn’t Anything would still give them a place in the annals of underground music.