Boasting one of the most evocative genre titles, shoegaze was a short-lived musical movement originating in the UK in the late 1980s. The acts that made up the original shoegaze scene were diverse, but what united them was an impressionistic approach to music making, combining traditional rock instruments with convoluted chains of effects pedals and advanced recording techniques to generate dense fields of sound that were at once intimate and otherworldly. In this article, we look back at the beginnings of the shoegaze movement, explore four of the genre’s most influential bands, and discuss shoegaze’s lasting influence on contemporary music.
Entropy and Sublimity: The Shoegaze DNA
Like any musical genre, shoegaze didn’t suddenly spring into existence. Rather, it was part of a musical evolution with roots stretching back to the Wall of Sound production techniques of Phil Spector, 1960s psychedelia, 1970s post-punk, and 1970s and ’80s American noise rock. That said, two bands could arguably be credited with establishing many of the conventions that were followed by the bands given the shoegaze label: Cocteau Twins and the Jesus and Mary Chain.
Cocteau Twins
Formed in Scotland in 1979, Cocteau Twins drew inspiration from Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Birthday Party, and Kate Bush. But it was the unique combination of Robin Guthrie’s atmospheric guitar excursions and Elizabeth Fraser’s ethereal, reverb-drenched vocals that would inspire the shoegazers and dream-pop artists who followed over the next decade and a half. The band’s first full-length record, Garlands, was an artful panoply of distorted 808 drum machines, droning and aggressive guitars, chorus-soaked bass lines, and Elizabeth’s inimitable vocalizations and lyrical glossolalia. With subsequent releases, Cocteau Twins leaned more heavily into their dreamier impulses, blurring the lines between the vocals and the instruments to create a single undulating wave of sound.
The Jesus and Mary Chain
When brothers Jim and William Reid, the creative nucleus of Scotland’s the Jesus and Mary Chain, dropped their debut album, Psychocandy, in 1985, they paid tribute to the music that motivated their sonically dense approach to production. The album kicks off with the iconic drum intro from Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound megahit “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes and launches into “Just Like Honey,” a subversive reimagining of 1960s bubblegum pop. For 40 minutes, Jim and William present a Frankenstein’s monster of their influences — Phil Spector and Brian Wilson filtered through the Stooges and the Velvet Underground with a heavy dose of abrasive guitars and coolly indifferent vocals. Whereas the Cocteau Twins contributed the sublime to shoegaze’s genetic code, the Jesus and Mary Chain passed on a predilection for apathy and entropy. And it was in the dialectic between those two contradictory cosmologies that shoegaze grew.
The Scene That Celebrates Itself
The bands that made up the burgeoning shoegaze movement were a small but vibrant artistic community. However, the British press was strangely antagonistic toward this new crop of musicians who were eschewing the pomp and posturing of their contemporaries in rock and pop. In fact, the term “shoegaze” was initially intended as an insult from the British press, lampooning the artists’ habit of standing relatively motionless during performances while concentrating on the numerous pedals at their feet. Another odd phrase British music journos used to describe shoegaze bands was “the scene that celebrates itself,” so chosen because the bands were highly supportive of each other and commonly attended each other’s shows or joined each other onstage. One can only guess why this enraged the music press at the time. Perhaps they considered the lack of infighting and controversy a personal affront since drama sells magazines!
Burn Bright, Burn Fast, Burn Out
Though shoegaze’s impact has been immense, the number of active shoegaze bands in the 1980s and 1990s was relatively few. And, of those, an even smaller number attained widespread fame. The shoegaze phenomenon had a steep vertical trajectory and an even more acute fall. With its peak lasting just a few years, the shoegaze genre was one of the briefest popular musical movements, which makes its enduring influence even more impressive. The four shoegaze bands who, at the time, had the most commercial and cultural impact were My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Lush, and Slowdive.
My Bloody Valentine
Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, My Bloody Valentine is often viewed as a creative vehicle for their visionary and enigmatic guitarist, Kevin Shields. However, the core members — Bilinda Butcher (vocals, guitar), Debbie Googe (bass), and Colm Ó Cíosóig (drums) — were present on each of the band’s three full-length releases and continue to perform together today. My Bloody Valentine’s 1991 sophomore LP, Loveless, is considered by many the crown jewel of the shoegaze genre, and there’s a lot of lore surrounding its making. According to reports, the total cost of the record was around $250,000 — a sizable chunk for independent label Creation Records, who funded the project. Loveless took two years to produce, and the band worked with several dozen engineers in over 19 recording studios. But the toil was worth it, and Kevin Shields and crew’s perfectionism in the studio resulted in a now-legendary album that created a new sonic lexicon for guitars while serving as a blueprint for the shoegaze sound.
Ride
Though vocalist and lead guitarist Andy Bell has stated in interviews that he and the other members of Ride — Mark Gardener (vocals, guitar), Steve Queralt (bass), and Loz Colbert (drums) — rejected the shoegaze label, they have nonetheless been given a top position in the shoegaze pantheon. And it’s no wonder why. Ride was another Creation Records band, and their sound, especially on earlier releases, bore all the familiar shoegaze hallmarks — shimmering guitars, cavernous vocals, and sun-soaked melancholia. However, Ride’s pop sensibilities were stronger than their contemporaries’ and foreshadowed the coming of Britpop. There is a clear thread connecting their early work, such as the song “Vapour Trail” from the 1990 album Nowhere, to the melodic, guitar-driven bands like Oasis, Blur, Suede, and Pulp, who would dethrone the shoegazers as Britain’s top musical exports in the mid-’90s.
Lush
In 1987, vocalists and guitarists Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson, along with bassist Steve Rippon and drummer Chris Acland, formed the Baby Machines, merging the insurgent sound of garage rock with the contemplativeness of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Cocteau Twins. The band matured rapidly, and, after a name change and the release of a critically acclaimed EP, Scar, in 1989, Lush found themselves celebrated as early pioneers of the shoegaze scene. Collaborations with This Mortal Coil’s John Fryer, Talk Talk keyboardist/producer Tim Friese-Greene, and Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie resulted in an impressive run of releases that exemplified the dreamier side of shoegaze. By the time Lush recorded their fourth and final album, 1996’s Lovelife, they had transitioned from shoegaze to Britpop. The band dissolved the same year, following the tragic death of Chris Acland. After briefly reforming in 2015, Lush called it quits for a second and final time in 2016. However, their legacy lives on in the dream-pop bands and nu-gazers whom they continue to inspire.
Slowdive
Reading, Berkshire’s Slowdive traversed a tumultuous path to attain status as shoegaze luminaries. While the band received positive reviews for their debut eponymous EP in 1990, by the time their first full-length album dropped in 1991 (Just for a Day), the shoegaze backlash in the British press was in full swing. Slowdive’s members — Neil Halstead (vocals/guitar), Rachel Goswell (vocals/guitar), Christian Savill (guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), and Simon Scott (drums) — found the media scrutiny overwhelming, and it threatened to derail their creative process. Thankfully, despite the negative critical reception, they persisted and, in the process, created Souvlaki in 1993 and Pygmalion in 1995, two albums that are beloved by shoegaze adherents. After Pygmalion, Slowdive split, and Neil and Rachel went on to explore alt-country and folk in Mojave 3. In 2014, Slowdive reformed, and they released a fourth, self-titled album in 2017. Fans were delighted; and, this time around, Slowdive received nearly universal critical acclaim.
An Endless Gaze
By the mid-’90s, the shoegaze flame had been reduced to embers. Yet, those embers continued to burn, sparking other notable gazers including Chapterhouse, The Verve, Swervedriver, and Catherine Wheel in the UK, and the Drop Nineteens, Starflyer 59, Bardo Pond, and the Autumns in the States. Nearly a quarter of a century since it first hit the airwaves, shoegaze continues to live on with modern groups, including Beach House, Lea Porcelain, Wooden Shjips, and more, carrying on the tradition.
Check out Sweetwater’s official shoegaze playlist on Spotify, featuring some of our favorite classic and current shoegaze artists.
Making Shoegaze with Modern Gear
It may be pure coincidence, but the shoegaze resurgence seems to track with the current boom in boutique stompboxes. A correlation would make sense. For musicians obsessed with gear, shoegaze is a liberating genre that exploits technology to create ethereal tides of sonic bliss and blister. A Jazzmaster, a tube amp, and a pedalboard that would make Josh Scott blush — these are the ingredients you need to create your own wash of shoegaze shimmer. Scroll through the gallery below to see our top picks for getting the shoegaze sound!