Since 1990, San Francisco native psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre has seen its share of fame and conflict. Anton Newcombe has mastered countless genres with his band while simultaneously isolating himself from his other band members. The Brian Jonestown Massacre (a name blending Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones and the mass suicide in Jonestown) has been through dozens of different individuals with countless altered line-ups.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre's underground following began to really catch hold with the release of their 1995 album Methodrone; an album that included classic BJM songs such as "Evergreen," "Everyone Says," and "Wisdom." After Methodrone, which was considered a shoegaze album, The Brian Jonestown Massacre jumped right into a series of albums heavily based on the psychedelic 1960's mixed with whatever caught Anton's creative intellect at the moment. With each new band line-up and each new burst of creativity, albums such as Thank God for Mental Illness and Take It from the Man were born and revered by devout fans through the 1990's and the early 2000's.

Recognition and celebrity finally caught up with The BJM as they became the focal point of Ondi Timoner's 2004 documentary DiG!. Following The Brian Jonestown Massacre's rock rivalry with The Dandy Warhols, DiG! exposes the dysfunction within Anton's band and his own mind.

Through the 18 years of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, mini band breakups and huge mental breakdowns have been scattered in a musical history of heavy reverb and heartbreaking lyrics. April 15, 2008 marked the release of the thirteenth studio album for the fragile band: My Bloody Underground (the title being an homage to the legendary bands: My Bloody Valentine, The Velvet Underground, and The Jesus and Mary Chain). Just under 80 minutes, My Bloody Underground is a balanced mixture of the traditional songs with electric distortion and haunting vocals, and lengthy instrumental pieces. As with every album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Anton freely expresses his opinions and disdain for society in general through MBU. This time, Newcombe's thoughts are expressed conveniently through the outlandish track titles: "Who Fucking Pissed On My Well?", "Just Like Licking Jesus", and "Infinite Wisdom Tooth/ My Last Night In Bed With You".

My Bloody Underground starts off with its strongest track, "Bring Me The Head of Paul McCartney on Heather Mill's Wooden Peg (Dropping Bombs on the White House)". The steady drum beat (here being played by Dan Allaire) creates a perfect flow for the rest of the band to experiment. The haunting mix of acoustic guitar and electric distortion harks back to the BJM sound of the mid 90's. The tracks that feature lyrics on MBU stand out as musical success, follow Anton's foolproof formula: long intro, echoing vocals, and guitar distortion reminiscent of trademark sound of The Velvet Underground's masterpiece "Heroin". Beyond those tried and true BJM songs, My Bloody Underground expands the range of Anton's work, bringing in to focus new instruments such as piano in "We Are The Niggers Of The World."

"Black Hole Symphony" closes the album with ten minutes of disturbing and sinister noise that builds into the musical image of a black hole. While very stimulating, the track doesn't correlate with the rest of the album, leaving the listener with an uneasy feeling and no recollection of the album she just listened to. With My Bloody Underground, Anton and the rest of The Brian Jonestown Massacre attempt an experimental album seemingly light years away from their shoegaze roots. The result is an album that doesn't feel complete. Even with a few shining tracks of hope we are left with a disjointed album: off-putting and forgettable.