Sowing Seeds of Shoegaze by Granny Anarchy One of my favorite varieties of music is shoegaze. For some reason, a lot of people have trouble understanding and defining the genre. In fact, it seems that many shoegazers spend as much or more time defending their music as they do enjoying it! I also suspect that no two shoegaze fans will have the exact same explanation of just what shoegaze is - or isn't. (Caveat: Granny Anarchy is Gen X, and I loved this type of music before there was a word for - much less a modern interpretation of - shoegaze. In addition, I prefer not classifying art too closely, so understand that this guide may be biased towards my own experiences and aesthetic.)
Origins & Etymology Shoegaze arose as a movement in the 1980s when bands from the UK and US began using layers of specific effects – notably reverb and delay - to create a wall of distorted sound. Most shoegaze songs are identifiable for their emphasis on fuzzy guitars often modulated by chorus, flanger, or phazer pedals in unconventional order and combined with alternative tuning in a dense, dreamy blend. Vocals are often breathy, obscure and mixed down. The result is often described as abstract, diffuse, droning, lush, noisy, shimmering, surreal, swirling, or textured. Shoegaze bands were known for their artistic, Kevin Shields utilizing his glide guitar technique during a 1989 My Bloody Valentine performance - Wikipedia
introspective attitudes and stoic stage presences. Unfortunately, they were also sometimes seen as geeky, melancholy, preoccupied, pretentious, or self-indulgent. Etymological legend has it that the term “shoegaze”
comes from the description of bands staring down at their effects pedals instead of making eye contact with the audience. This appellation was actually meant as a joke. Shoegaze was also sarcastically called “The Scene That Celebrates Itself” by
British music journalists who were used to covering grandiose, gossip-rich rock and pop antics - and who seemed to resent acts supporting one another by sharing stage time, going to each other's shows, and generally being rivalry-free.
Essential Albums Proto-shoegaze band The Cocteau Twins were inspired by The Birthday Party, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Kate Bush. They released their first album, “Garland”
, in 1982, with its follow-up, “Head over Heels”, in 1983. Singer
Elizabeth Fraser's unintelligible vocals were described as ethereal, and Robin Guthrie's guitar - at first aggressive - developed into something more dreamy. The cumulative sound was always atmospheric, and their earliest post-punk work as well as later dream pop albums deeply affected many shoegaze artists to come. - CD available at Metro Library!
The Jesus and Mary Chain released their debut, “Psychocandy”, in 1985. Brothers Jim and William Reid were influenced by Phil Spector's “Wall of Sound” recording technique and Brian Wilson's musicianship and use of the studio - as well as abrasive, aggressive acts such as The Stooges and The Velvet Underground. The JAMC was full of buzzy guitar noise, darkly ambiguous lyrics, and saturated sixtiesinfluenced melodies. Psychocandy is often defined as, if not the birth of, the inspiration for the sonic style of shoegaze. My Bloody Valentine, who released the “You Made Me
Realize” EP and the album “Isn't Anything” in 1988, released their second, seminal album “Loveless” in 1991. Drawing on the bands before them as well as referring to Dinosaur Jr., Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, and the Ramones, MBV's Kevin Shields pioneered the “glide guitar” technique utilizing his Jazzmaster's whammy bar to help bend pitch - and eventually putting him on
Rolling Stone's and Spin's lists of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. The story behind the recording of Loveless is legendary, involving nineteen studios, at least 18 different engineers, and a disputed amount of money that may or may not have aided in the downfall of Creation Records over approximately two years. All of this arduousness resulted in a critical success which has been called one of the best albums ever - and the quintessential shoegaze album.
Other Influential Acts Lush came onto the scene in 1991 with the release of the six-track “Scar”. Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson and their bandmates released “Spooky” in 1992. One of the more commercially successful shoegaze acts of the time, Lush penned poppy melodies and blended them with textured guitars. Spooky reached #7 in the UK Albums chart and Perry Farrell invited the band to play the 1992 Lollapalooza main stage. Ride's Andy Bell and Mark Gardener spoke out about not identifying as shoegaze. Their early work was more atmospheric than their later britpop, but the band's 1990 “Nowhere” combines accessible melodies with guitar texture and is included in most fans and appointed Ride - Wikipedia
experts’ lists of best shoegaze albums. It reached
#11 in the UK charts and remains a pillar of the genre; it is an easy entry point for interested listeners. Slowdive, impacted by The Cure and Pink Floyd, released “Just for a Day” in 1991. The band's 1993 “Souvlaki” is a shoegaze staple. Slowdive was known for ambient, dreamy soundscapes and even collaborated with Brian Eno on the tracks “Sing” and
“Here She Comes”. Souvlaki only achieved #51 on the UK charts but has been
retroactively acclaimed as one of the best releases of the 1990s and one of the greatest shoegaze albums of all time.
Fade-Out & Revival Due to mainstream unmarketability, what Pitchfork called “music for dreaming” was more demanding of its audience to engage with it, rather than pulling in listeners with easy-to-grasp lyrics or over-the-top antics. Instead, shoegaze created reveries with deeply saturated sound that took fans on immersive trips of introspection. As a scene and viable artform, it ended by the mid to late 90s. Unable to compete with the in-your-face wail of grunge nor catchy, charismatic britpop, shoegaze was too cryptic and aloof to be commercially successful. Many musicians explored other pursuits, though ideals of the genre lived on in dream pop*, noise rock, and psych rock until shoegaze was discovered by new internet fans in the early 2000s-2010s. * What's the difference between shoegaze and dream pop? Dean Wareham of Galaxie 500 noted that dream pop has “more empty space...allowing for melody” while “shoegaze bands are more of an assault, a wall of sound.”
Additional Artists Chapterhouse – Whirlpool (1991) Curve – Doppelgänger (1992) Drop Nineteens – Delaware (1992) Kitchens of Distinction - Strange Free World (1991) Lilys – In the Presence of Nothing (1992) Medicine – Shot Forth Self Living (1992) Mercury Rev - Yerself is Steam (1991) Moose – Xyz (1992) Pale Saints – The Comforts of Madness (1990) Swervedriver – Mezcal Head (1993)
- Granny Anarchy’s Choices! These are the shoegaze artists and songs that Granny enjoys!
Adjacent & Newer Acts German record label Morr Music released a Slowdive tribute album in 2002. In 2003, M83 dropped “Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts”, and the film Lost in Translation featured music by MBV’s Kevin Shields. Director Gregg Araki used the genre in many of his films, including 2004’s Mysterious Skin,
which incorporated original
music by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins. “Shoegaze” began being more liberally applied to items such as Autolux’s “Future Perfect” (2004) and the eponymous albums “A Place to Bury Strangers” (2007) and “The Pains of Being Pure at Heart” (2009). By 2010, the term “nu gaze” was in use regarding bands such as DIIV, No Joy, and Nothing. Metal-infused shoegaze sound was dubbed “blackgaze,” a genre which may extend to include Oklahoma City’s own Chat Pile. - CD &/or DVD available at Metro Library!
A.R. Kane – 69 (1988) Dream Pop; Noise Pop; Noise Rock, Shoegaze Candy Claws - Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time (2013) Dream Pop: Neo-Psychedelia Cranes – Wings of Joy (1991) Dream Pop: Neo-Psychedelia DIIV – Deceiver(2019), Frog in Boiling Water (2024) Dream Pop; Post-Punk; Shoegaze Flying Saucer Attack – Flying Saucer Attack (1993) Drone; Lo-Fi; Space Rock; Shoegaze Galaxie 500 – On Fire (1989) Dream Pop; Jangle Pop; Neo-Psychedelia; Slowcore Loop - Heaven's End (1987) Drone; Neo-Psychedelia; Space Rock; Shoegaze Loveliescrushing -Xuvetyn (1996) Ambient; Dream Pop; Drone; Shoegaze Low – Hey What (2021) Dream Pop; Slowcore M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (2003) Ambient; Dream Pop; Electronic; Shoegaze
Mazzy Starr - So Tonight That I Might See (1993) Dream Pop; Slowcore Mogwai – Kin (2018) Post-Rock
No Joy – Wait to Pleasure (2013) Dream Pop; Noise Pop; Shoegaze Nothing – Guilty of Everything (2014) Dream Pop, Noise Pop, Post-Hardcore Pinkshinyultrablast – Everything Else Matters (2015) Dream Pop; Noise Pop; Post Rock; Shoegaze
Ringo Deathstarr – Colour Trip (2011)
, Pure Mood (2015) Dream Pop; Noise
Pop; Shoegaze
Spacemen 3 – Sound of Confusion (1986), Playing with Fire (1989) Neo-Psychedelia Swirlies - Blonder Tongue Audio Baton (1993) Noise Pop; Noise Rock; Shoegaze The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Methodrone (1995) Neo-Psychedelia; Psychedelic Rock; Shoegaze
The Difference Engine – Breadmaker (1994) Dream Pop; Shoegaze The Horrors – Primary Colours (2009) Neo-Psychedelia; Post-Punk; Shoegaze The Telescopes – Taste (1989) Dream Pop; Neo-Psychedelia; Shoegaze The Verve – A Storm in Heaven (1993) Dream Pop; Neo-Psychedelia; Space Rock; They Are Gutting a Body of Water Lotto (2025) Electronic; Experimental Rock; Shoegaze Velocity Girl Copacetic (1993) Indie Pop; Indie Rock Whirr – Sway (2014) Dream Pop; Noise Pop; Shoegaze Some of my favorite shoegaze & adjacent acts include:
:
A Place to Bury Strangers – Exploding Head (2009) Noise Rock; Post-Punk; Shoegaze Bethany Curve -Gold (1998) – Dream Pop; Space Rock; Shoegaze Failure -Comfort (1992), Magnified (1994), Fantastic Planet (1996) Alt Rock, Art Rock; Post-Grunge; Space Rock
Catherine Wheel - Ferment (1992), Chrome (1993) Alternative Rock; Dream Pop; Shoegaze Hum-You’d Prefer an Astronaut (1995)
Alt Rock; Post-Hardcore; Space Rock
Skywave – Synthstatic (2006), Killerrockandroll (2016) Noise Pop; Post-Punk; Shoegaze Starflyer 59 – Lust for Gold (2024) Dream Pop; Shoegaze The Veldt – Afrodisiac (1994) Alternative Soul; Shoegaze
Is The Cure Shoegaze? The easiest answer is that The Cure is The Cure. The band continually evolved its sound from its 1976 inception into the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, but its music - while encompassing and influencing other genres - is itself difficult to classify. The album “Pornography” is much cited as formative to shoegaze artists, and songs such as
Shake Dog Shake (The Top) One More Time (Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me) End; From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (Wish) and
Hungry Ghosts (4:13 Dream) possess elements of the genre. “Disintegration”
and
“Wish” are particularly known for lush guitars using layers of delay and reverb to create dense and dreamy soundscapes. So, are Deftones shoegaze? What about Silversun Pickups? The answer is dependent on who you ask!.
For Further Info Books Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD by Martin Aston Fingers Crossed by Miki Berenyi Creation Stories by Alan McGee Loveless (33 1/3) by Mike McGonigal Spacemen 3 and the Birth of Spiritualized by Erik Morse Never Understood: The Jesus and Mary Chain by William and Jim Reid
Blissed Out: Raptures of Rock by Simon Reynolds - Book available at Metro Library!
“We didn’t want to use the stage as a platform for ego, like … U2 and Simple Minds” - Mark Gardener (Ride)
The Cure’s Robert Smith in 1989 – Wikipedia
DVD Documentaries Beautiful Noise Creation Stories
“Shoegazing was originally a slag-off term… it became (generic) for…bands that had a big, sweeping, effects-laden sound, but…stood resolutely still” – Miki Berenyi (Lush)
“I always thought Robert Smith, when he was in Siouxsie & The Banshees…was the coolest as he just stood there and let the music flood out. That anti showmanship was perfect” – Simon Scott (Slowdive)
Music for You!
A.R. Kane, 1979
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Sowing Seeds (Live) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWubqFFDioU Lush – Sweetness and Light https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7cqkpy4QrQ My Bloody Valentine- Only Shallow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwfCoKNI5hs Ride – Vapour Trail
Toni Halliday of Curve, 1992
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NrGCLSlMj0 Slowdive – Souvlaki Space Station https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPApiFhKFsg Autolux- Subzero Fun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA5HhrhnTMk Hum – The Pod https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0lfDQc4P6o Starflyer 59 – 1995 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW7PCyLpcX4 The Verve – Slide Away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X45hWP_QKt0
A Place to Bury Strangers, 2007 “How can something so incredibly noisy and layered sound so beautiful?” – Brent DiCrescenzo