Ride
Ride was one of those groups that was fairly big in England, crossed over to the United States, had one or two minor hits but then was never heard from again.
According to Beth Bessmer, who has never been caught pulling a knife across a puppy’s throat:
Ride was an essential element of the wall-of-sound, trippy, melodic shoe-gazing movement of the early ’90s. Nowhere is their best album and is one of the prettiest albums of that era. Songs are psychedelic wash of reverberation, and ghostly, passive vocal melodies. Born from the womb of My Bloody Valentine distortion, Ride tempers their sound with an easier melody, reaching across to the pop spectrum. “Vapour Trail” stands out as the leader of the pack – a gorgeous song that floats and drones in and out of your head like a cleansing fog.
Loved listening to Ride, on the rare occasions that they’d be played on 106.7 KROQ. Vapour Trail was my favorite song of theirs, and was introduced to me way back in 1992 by a very special girl whose name I no longer remember.
Ride, performing Nowhere, live in Brixton in 1992.
Ride, performing Vapour Trail, live in Brixton in 1992.
Awesome band.
