120 Minutes That Saved My Life

When I was starting to explore the scope of music in what used to be called the “alternative” scene in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the MTV show 120 Minutes was an effective teacher. The label described a loosely knit category—if you can even call it that—in which anything that wasn’t mainstream fit in one way or another. It could be heavy industrial like Ministry or bohemian pop like 10,000 Maniacs.

The label worked until it didn’t. Many of the bands that were once “alternative” became mainstream after the success of Nirvana’s Nevermind turned everything upside down. While the term was useful, it wasn’t particularly descriptive. It was a broad tent under which many subgenres thrived. Britpop was among the bigger ones, which could mean the more straightforward, guitar-based jangle pop of a band like Blur or, at times, those that straddled the line between that sound and the pedal-drenched textures of Slowdive or My Bloody Valentine.

Catherine Wheel sat right in that middle space—glued to their pedals but with strong pop sensibilities and infectious choruses. “The Nude,” from the 1993 album Chrome, plays to their strengths: softening the listener with a barrage of guitars before delivering delicate, intimate lyrics. The video diverges from the album version in its latter half, altering some of the guitar parts, which cut a bit deeper but still blend seamlessly with the string accompaniment.

Catherine Wheel – The Nude (YouTube)