Genre Deep Dive – Shoegaze

One genre that has dominated my headphones and listening habits over the last couple years has been Shoegaze. Unless you’re an avid discoverer of music, this likely isn’t even a word that you’re familiar with. This corner of music is adjacent to the ever-present term of Indie Rock, which is today a name you can fit most bands inside of despite how different they are from one another. It’s further categorized by the very high and potentially even excessive amount of effects thrown all over the sounds. Guitars are distorted, drums are crashing, and the vocals are obscured. You’re probably thinking “Hey! That sounds awful!” and you’re only half right. Elements present through this kind of music include an overall ethereal sound and the replication of a dramatic journey through space. It’s often heavily experimental and not something that can be done with ease, however many bands have perfected it and released albums that show off what the genre can really bring to the table. Many of my favorite projects, bands, and albums all fall into this category because there’s simply such a high quantity of greatness. Let’s take a look at the anatomy of this genre and some of the history behind it, as well as the many highlights that make it the hidden gem that it is.

To begin, what does this term even mean?? To put it simply, it’s exactly what it sounds like. The musicians who record Shoegaze or play it live at a venue will very likely be staring directly at their shoes instead of off into the crowd or at their instruments. While that may sound unlikely, it’s surprisingly for good reason. The sheer amount of effects that lay over the music come from boards filled with pedals that typically sit on the ground, controlled by the artist’s feet. From the shows I’ve been to myself, these musicians will even crouch down between songs to adjust the effects before they continue with their setlist. Some of these common pedals include fuzz, reverb, delay, overdrive, and many more.

No genre is easy to put a start date on, but the original uprise of many bands adopting this style began in the very early 90’s. The first song credited with this style, way before the name was coined, was all the way back in the year 1970, with “All I Wanna Do” by the Beach Boys. The common elements shared between different adaptations of this genre are present in this track, causing a domino effect all the way to the 90’s where it was really expanded upon. The very early groups in the 90s that were first to form the genre credited many goth-esque bands as large influences. The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sonic Youth, and more were all stated as some favorite bands that a lot was drawn from.

Now, to get into these 90s bands, the most important one by a large margin is without a doubt My Bloody Valentine. While their 1988 album Isn’t Anything didn’t quite have a specific sound down yet, the massive 1991 release Loveless is very likely the most celebrated album within the whole genre, and even quite high-up in terms of all music. This quite honestly changed the course of underground rock music for all time, and made a huge impact on the music-making process of a large percentage of bands in the future. Countless genres of today, specifically in the Indie scene have forever been changed by this collection of 11 songs.

Breaking down Loveless further, each and ever song is condensed in what sounds like a blanket of fuzz. The vocals, guitar, drums, and every other element all sort of blend together because of the heavy distortion behind the track. This is exactly what the genre is all about, and there’s probably no clearer example than this.

Songs such as Sometimes, Loomer, and To Here Knows When are all backed by a wall of noise, while others like Only Shallow and I Only Said play off of what a lead-guitar sound can do a lot more. You can’t go without mentioning When You Sleep, THE poster child song of Shoegaze. When looking at any playlist of this genre online, you’re almost certain to find this song near the top of every one.

It’s also very important to mention the Dream Pop subgenre that emerged quite simultaneously I would give all the credit to Cocteau Twins for the start of this sect, as they had been releasing albums long before My Bloody Valentine, especially leading up to their 1990 release California or Las Vegas which once again set the stage for decades to come. Another one of these well-known songs that transcends beyond the scene is Cherry-coloured Funk, the prime example of what Dream Pop is.

The reason I mention Dream Pop as well is because they are very interchangable with eachother. Shoegaze shares most of the same elements, although there are a few minor differences (the easiest to notice probably have to do with the use of chords in Shoegaze as opposed to the lead/melody sound that Dream Pop takes on). One band that sits directly between both of these sounds is Slowdive, another that would be criminal to go without mentioning. While Slowdive also starts to step more into the indie genre that the other two, their 1994 album Souvlaki is the last of the big 3 in my opinion, once again paving the way for every album in the future of the genre. Slowdive is still releasing new music and touring to this day, just as big as they ever were.

Now this wouldn’t be much a of a “deep-dive” if I was to only tell you about the biggest 3 albums out of the genre, so let’s talk about the way it’s changed and adapted through the years.

One of the ways that Shoegaze defined itself early on was that many of the pioneering bands featured at least one female member, if not the vocalist, then on some other instrument. All 3 of the previously mentioned ones have a female member, along with others such as Lush or Pale Saints who are just as important to the beginnings. This first wave of Shoegaze was pretty exclusive to bands from the UK, although that would soon change.

As the Britpop and Grunge genres would take over the world, the former of which would be the primary scene in the UK as the 90s turned into the 2000s, the Shoegaze scene would fade out. However, other countries would very quickly adapt the sound as it globalized. Mainly of course, within the United States, Shoegaze would take a new approach, with a lot more experimental value applied to the already experimental genre. Bands such as Drop Nineteens, Swirlies, and Alison’s Halo wouldn’t differ a whole lot though, and built upon the already established sound to provide some great albums in the 90s. While bands like these existed, the genre wouldn’t take off much until the later 2000s.

The entire state of shoegaze worldwide gets much less linear from here on out, so let’s instead explore some of the different parts of it that would shift to become what exists today, or some of the larger subcategories.

One thing music in the States has always been known for is combining genres together and breaking off to make new things. Would prove to not differ a whole lot here. One of the most insane genres out of any realm is Blackgaze, which often combines the vocals of black metal with the instrumentals of shoegaze. If you’re unfamiliar, black metal vocals are extremely defined and unique, including raspy, high-pitched shrieks and screams. While it might sound unbearable, give Sunbather by Deafhaven a listen and you might open up your mind a bit. Sunbather remains one of my favorite albums ever, and others that built upon their sound but pitched down the vocals a bit such as I Want to Be There by Sadness or I Am Not Shinzo Abe by Xinlisupreme are ulso upon my favorites of any music genres.

As the American wave came more to fruition, an eastern one matched it, producing a sound that was new but also true to the origins. Japan led this for a while, with bands emerging such as Luminous Orange, Coaltar of the Deepers, and paint in watercolour. The epitome of the Japanese scene arrived with Fishmans, a 90s band who essentially created an entirely new kind of music lovers. While listening to their commercially successful songs, more of general J-Pop sound can be heard, however their 1998 live album 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare differs a bit. This is often acclaimed as one of the best albums, not only within the genre, but ever. It also contains their single-tracked album Long Season, which by itself is already widely regarded as fantastic. The first time I heard Yurameki In The Air – Live I was put into a state you don’t often experience while listening to music. Although it’s a bit on the longer side, I strongly recommend at least listening to that one.

I’d also like to give some credit to Boris who greatly assisted with the growth of this genre in the country of Japan. Albums such as Pink, Flood, and Feedbacker highlight the specific sound they own, which although is a bit more post-rock or metal, led to exactly those genres joining together in the future. Additionally, their album with noise artist Merzbow, Rock Dream, invented the style of harsher Shoegaze that persists to this day.

Along with the British and American sides of the genre, Japan also experienced a bit of a gap in the timeline, as it paused into the 2000s, but resumed again towards the 2010s. Out of the second wave, we got artists and bands like Yuragi, Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, POiSON GiRLFRiEND, Tokenainamae, For Tracy Hyde, and way more. All of these have an even more specific sound to them in my opinion, with a little less focus on spacey guitars, and more on vocals and additional instruments.

I could go on and on forever about the endless bands that the progression of Shoegaze has spawned, yet I’d like to talk about a few in specific. For one, Whirr is one of the biggest of today. In my opinion, there is absolutely no better perfection of what Shoegaze should be than the music that Whirr produces. I have yet to hear a single bad song from them, and multiple of their albums rank very high for me (especially Feels Like You and Distressor). Also, Glare is starting to rise more and more, who contain a very similar sound-scape to whirr.

Another group, a duo this time, Candy Claws is a real anamoly for me. They are only really known for their one album, Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time, yet rightfully so. This is hands-down one of the best collections of music I’ve ever heard. The sound is so unlike anything else in existence at all, that I can’t say I’ve heard anything remotely similar from the past or even any current predacessors. That’s why it’s so strange to me, you have an album so fantastic, yet nobody has bitten their sound at all. What I can chalk it up to is the fact it’s exactly that, just so unreplicable. If you’ve never heard of Candy Claws before, I HIGHLY recommend them, although it may not be incredibly accessible at first listen.

A few bands take Shoegaze even further into a more hardcore-punk style. Some that have risen up either very recently or within the past few years include Julie, Modern Color, Fleshwater, and Narrow Head. All of these have songs that I really think are for everyone, with some on the more aggressive side, and others that are tamer and native to the original sound. Highlights from all of the bands for me include Flutter, Jacaranda, What Was Really Said, and Nodding Off.

I’d like to highlight some artists that are simply amazing, as well as very recent. My favorite artist of all time (Asian Glow) is not entirely Shoegaze, and has once again created a style that is so unique, however many of his early albums leaned much further into the genre. Very similar case with Parannoul, whos recent albums are extremely critically acclaimed and has popularized the use of electronic and blown-out drums. Artists who are rising within only the last few months, such as Wisp and Zeruel use this same electronic style in their music and are real gems for me.

Last but ABSOLUTELY not least, I want to talk about 1 artist and 1 bands who have not only perfected the genre, not only have yet to release a single song that isn’t beautiful, but are still releasing music to this day. One of these bands is Default (which is the English translation, search California Nebula to find them on streaming). Default is an example of how amazing the use of both female and male vocals can be throughout projects, whether they’re appearing on the same song or not. If you’ve never heard Shoegaze and you really want to skip to some more current stuff, please listen to Pigeon Whistle (English translation) or Can You Hear The Whistle Blow. And for the artist, he currently goes by the name Brokenteeth, although it has changed a few times. The level of recognition this man receives compared to how INCREDIBLY good his music is is actually insane. It’s not easy to push an artist into the mainstream through an article in your school newspaper, but I’d like to do whatever I can because his music is simply beautiful.

Anyway, as long as you can get through the vacuum noises, Shoegaze is my favorite music genre 🙂