Best Shoegaze Albums 2023 (2024)

FAQs

Who is the father of shoegaze? ›

According to AllMusic, most bands drew from the music of My Bloody Valentine as a template for the genre, as well as groups such as Cocteau Twins and the Jesus and Mary Chain. British dream pop duo A.R. Kane have also been credited with producing a template for the genre in the late 1980s.

The 30-year-old subgenre has found new life in the hands of indie rockers, digicore artists, TikToking teens, and reunited first-wavers. A monkey in the zoo, defiantly staring down passersby.

Since its release, Loveless has been widely cited by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time, a landmark work of the shoegaze subgenre, and as a significant influence on various subsequent artists.

Legacy. My Bloody Valentine are regarded by some as the pioneers of the alternative rock subgenre known as shoegaze, a term coined by Sounds journalists in the 1990s to describe certain bands' "motionless performing style, where they stood on stage and stared at the floor".

The first taste of real shoegaze music came in 1988 from an Irish band called My Bloody Valentine, who are recognized today as pioneers of the genre.

All of which makes it striking that Deftones have now become so closely associated with shoegaze, a genre the band have always been personally influenced by, but never particularly influential on.

As we all know, the term "shoegazing" came from the performers' penchant for looking down at the floor, though what they were really looking at what their many guitar pedals, not their shoes. So arguably any band that had to look at their surfeit of pedals might qualify, and that's certainly a ton of psych rockers.

Shoegaze was also heavily inspired by the early days of psychedelia. In particular, The Velvet Underground, with their use of feedback, distortion, and hypnotic rhythms, could create immersive yet minimalist soundscapes that many shoegaze bands applied to their sonic palette almost three decades later.

Their music has been classified as garage rock, garage punk, gothic rock, shoegaze and post-punk revival. The band have released five studio albums: Strange House (2007), Primary Colours (2009), Skying (2011), Luminous (2014) and V (2017) all of which charted within the UK Top 40.

The current lineup consists of Corgan, Chamberlin, and Iha. The band has a diverse, densely layered sound, which evolved throughout their career and has contained elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, grunge, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegaze, dream pop, and electronica.

When was shoegaze most popular? ›

By the early/mid 90's shoegaze had reached its peak in mainstream popularity, but was quickly overshadowed by the powerful influence of grunge and Britpop, which swiftly dominated the airwaves.

Shoegazing is a style of alternative rock music that emerged from the British isles in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

Mazzy Star - So Tonight I Might See (1993)

With hazy guitar and a certain disparate nature, in many ways, this album was also defined by its trademark shoegaze atmospherics, a 'proto-shoegaze' album of the most ethereal quality.

Shoegaze is not a goth genre, but some important albums in gothic music are similar to shoegaze (Loveless from My Bloody Valentine). The shoegaze emerged at the end of the 80's. It is generally characterized by distorted riffs, overdriven guitars.

What began as a niche genre in the 1980s has evolved into a global phenomenon, with its dreamy soundscapes continuing to captivate listeners today. As long as artists continue to push the boundaries of expression, shoegaze will remain a vital and influential force in the world of music.

In no way were the Cocteau Twins stating they were shoegaze...they had no idea. They were calling upon Bowie, Eno, and Siouxsie and the Banshees as influences. Other bands soon followed their sound, followed by British journalists coining the term.

The Origins Of Shoegaze: Early influences of shoegaze music dates back to the psychedelic rock movement of the 1960's, with bands such as The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Blue Magoons, and Van Morrison. The genre also draws some resemblance to The Beach Boys work in the early 1970's as well.

Musical style and influences

While the group's early material was folk-tinged pop, they became more rock-oriented after the rhythm section joined. Generally, the band's musical style has been described as alternative rock, indie rock, and shoegaze, with elements of dream pop, folk, grunge, pop, and electronic.