Things that I learned doing this list - number... whatever: PJ Harvey, like Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper, used to be the name of a band as well as its titular lead singer.
Polly Jean had been raised by parents who exposed her to different styles of music. She'd played in the ensemble Bologne and the folk duo Polekats. She contributed saxophone, guitar and backing vocals to the group Automatic Dlamini. During that time she had been honing her own songwriting talents, until finally she was ready to start her own band, along with two members of Automatic Dlamini.
After two critically well-received singles, PJ Harvey released her/their first album. The music is stripped-down, raw rock with PJ (the person) hissing, howling, wailing and growling over the top. There's noisy guitar, there are parts that are just stripped down to bass and vocals, but it doesn't just sound like indie-rock, you get a feeling that some of PJ's other musical background in folk, pop and jazz are floating around just below the surface.
The album laid down the gauntlet that has seen PJ (MBE)(the person) take up and maintain 'musical icon' status.
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