What you need to know:
Shoegaze is more current than ever and these 7 modern bands prove it.
Grunge and Britpop were the trends that dominated music during the first half of the 90s. But behind them, although perhaps with less media trail, there were a bunch of shoegaze bands that were building a major scene.
Atmospheric, hypnotic, melancholic and melodiously distorted music… That was the charm of this musical style, which adds to the very long list of alternative rock subgenres. However, always had a more underground quality than any other current.
The origin of shoegaze
The term ‘shoegaze’ is quite an interesting one. etymologically, the concept comes from the words ‘shoe’ (shoe) and ‘gaze’ (stare)being coined by the English press to describe those bands whose members –especially the guitarists– always looked down while playing.
And why did these musicians always look down on their performances? Fair, because they constantly set up their distortion pedals, which was the hallmark of the sound of shoegaze bands. But the origin of ‘shoegazing’ has a specific starting point.
According to the British media Far Out, everything is due to a review that the old magazine Sounds made of a show by the band Moose. In that presentation, it drew a lot of attention that the vocalist Russell Yates kept his gaze fixedly downwards, this to read the lyrics of his songs embodied on a piece of paper stuck to the ground.
This is how the ‘shoegazing’ and the birth of a scene as passionate as it is ephemeral. And although The Jesus and Mary Chain or Cocteau Twins (the latter more directed towards dreampop) are cited as influences on the style, the truth is that the great pioneer of shoegaze was My Bloody Valentinewho conquered the scene with the album loveless from 1991.
Fairly, MBV is the example of the rise and momentary fall of the subgenre. The band released that record and then, they disappeared (at least until they released their third album in 2013). There were also other acts like Ride or Slowdive that remained active, but that musically incorporated much more than just distortion to pigeonhole them in a single style.
Shoegaze faded in the shadow of grunge and Britpop at the beginning of the 90s, and did not find strength at the end of the same decade either. with the massive success of nü-metal and pop-punk. But it didn’t disappear as such…
In the late 2000s it began to resurface, and from 2010 came a new wave of musical projects (some branching out into other styles such as blackgaze or heavy shoegaze) that have given the style a new look…. And here, we will review some shoegaze bands that show that this sound is still valid.
Here are 7 shoegaze bands that show that the style is still valid
Ringo Deathstarr is a bandote
Rescuing the vintage sound of distorted melodic guitars and voices buried in the mix of the tracks, we got the texans ringo deathstarr. Their mention in this list is not fortuitous, since they are a band that revived the genre forming part of the so-called ‘new wave of American shoegaze’.
Commanded by Elliot Frazier, the group released their first album in 2011 and since then they have delivered five incredible recording materials. The most recent one arrived in 2020 under a title of the same name, which by the way is quite good. This material is worth listening to, and if you’re new to this, you can’t miss this great song called “Kaleidoscope”.
deafheaven and the blackgaze
Deafheaven is a breakthrough band within shoegaze and metal. Because? Well, because within the enormous number of subgenres that already exist within rock, they popularized the so-called ‘blackgaze’, which is the fusion of black metal with shoegaze.
If one reviews his discography, one will find two well-marked extremes. An example: the song “Honeycomb” (from the album Ordinary Corrupt Human Love from 2018) unfolds in a guttural vocal track of the most extreme metal, with a devastating double bass drum and with guitars that go from melodic distortion to the most brutal metal riffs.
And then we have the record Infinite Granite of 2021, where the band fully immerses itself in its most ‘shoegazero’ side with songs like “In Blur”, “Lament for Wasps” or “Great Mass of Color”, or even in dreampop with songs like “Mombasa”. The metal texture doesn’t disappear on this record, but it’s kept to a minimum… very minimal.
If we focus on shoegaze bands (and in this case, blackgaze), it’s fair to say that Deafheaven is one of the most revolutionary projects in the genre by far..
Nothing is one of the most remembered shoegaze bands of the last era
Nothing’s story is very peculiar. Vocalist Nicky Palermo was a lover of hardcore-punk from a very young age and played in bands of that type in the early 2000s. However, he spent a couple of years in prison after an altercation at a performance where he seriously injured someone.
After leaving jail, an existential crisis came, the kind that invade us when you leave behind the shrink of adolescence. As it says in an interview with kerrangTired of the hardcore-punk scene in his native Philadelphia and in the process of reconnecting with music, undertook this project that we know as Nothing.
In sum of all, Nothing is essentially Nicky Palermo as the band has seen different members come and go. But the records of him, starting with the Guilty of Everythingare proof that the shoegaze sound has transcended time (with better quality productions, yes).
DIIV and the different styles of indie, dreampop and shoegaze
The same and some are going to lie to us with this one, but something is certain: DIIV is a band that has managed to develop in different styles of alternative rock; from indie-rock to dreampop and shoegaze.
His first record, Oshin from 2012, it sounds completely like indie dreampop. Then in 2016 they brought us Is the Is Are who followed the same style. But the most significant change came in 2019 with Deceiverby far the darkest album of the band, sonically speaking.
Media such as NME even cataloged the album as a revival of grunge, with hints of shoegaze. And there the line is drawn between distortion… grunge or shoegaze? It doesn’t matter; The truth is that it’s a great album that, if you haven’t heard it, those who yearn for the 90s era of alternative rock will like it a lot.
Just Mustard: one of the shoegaze bands that have refreshed the genre
It’s time to talk about a cooler shoegaze band. Just Mustard, originally from Ireland, released their first album in 2018 and they immediately attracted attention for their varied musical form: full distortion at times, soft and melodic guitars suddenly, a reverberated and echoing voice that mesmerizes you…
The band has earned the label within shoegaze, but their lines are not limited to that style as they have elements of dreampop, noise rock and more. In 2022 they released their album Heart Underwhere they blow up everything with dim, distorted and crazy musical sequences.
Peel Dream Magazine is New York shoegaze that evolved
Peel Dream Magazine released his first album in 2018 and by 2022, he released his third material. The latter was a total evolution for the band to fully enter experimental pop.
Their first album was a melancholic and distorted indie-rock that gave a good impression of what the band would be…. And then, we have this magical gem called Agriprop Alterna from 2020 that is an unmissable piece that vindicates shoegaze to the school of yesteryear.
A spectacular thing, from beginning to end that we recommend giving it an ear. A great shoegaze band that has managed to break away from the genre without completely abandoning it in their recent releases.
Bdrmm among the UK’s coolest shoegaze bands
Now, if it’s shoegaze today, there’s a band in the UK that’s making quite a name for itself on the scene. Bdrmm is a band that in 2020 released their debut album, roomwith a soft shoegaze that reminds us why this musical style is so closely linked to dreampop.
Many British media currently place them as one of the bets for the shoegaze revival in those parts… But the magic of this band is thate his sound is not based exclusively on distorted guitars.
They’re atmospheric to the max and just as they deliver smooth verse to their songs, they soon fire everything up with powerful guitars full of melancholy, which is what has earned them their place on this list. His recent single, “It’s Just a Bit of Blood”, is proof of what we tell you… Pay attention that his new album is not long in coming and it sounds like it will be wonderful.
