Shoegaze

Shoegaze (also known as shoegazing) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterised by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback and overwhelming volume. Originally emerging in Ireland and the United Kingdom during the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups who usually stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state.

A loose label given to the shoegaze bands and other affiliated artists in London during the early 1990s was "the scene that celebrates itself". Most shoegaze artists drew from the Jesus and Mary Chain and Cocteau Twins, alongside the template set by My Bloody Valentine and their albums ''Loveless'' and '' Isn't Anything''.

During the early 1990s, shoegaze was sidelined by American grunge and early Britpop acts, resulting in bands breaking up or reinventing their style altogether. By the 2000s and late 2010s, a renewed interest in the genre began, leading to the emergence of fusion and subgenres like shitgaze, witch house, nu gaze and blackgaze.

Characteristics

Shoegaze genre combines ethereal, swirling vocals with layers of distorted, bent, or flanged guitars,Patrick Sisson,
Vapour Trails: Revisiting Shoegaze
", XLR8R no. 123, December 2008 creating a wash of sound where no instrument is distinguishable from another. It is primarily characterised by its emphasis on dense sonic textures, extensive use of guitar effects, and subdued vocal delivery.

The genre is typically "overwhelmingly loud, with long, droning riffs, waves of distortion and cascades of feedback. Vocals and melodies disappeared into the walls of guitars". According to ''Pitchfork'', "emotionally, shoegaze turns its focus inward. The extreme noise eliminates the possibility of socializing while the music is playing, leaving each member of the audience alone with their thoughts. It's music for dreaming". It is sometimes conflated with dream pop. Early UK shoegaze was influenced by American bands such as Dinosaur Jr., Hüsker Dü and Sonic Youth.

A defining characteristic of shoegaze is its use of heavily processed electric guitars. Guitarists often employ a wide range of effects such as reverb, delay, chorus, tremolo, and distortion to produce a layered and immersive wall of sound. A notable technique within the genre is the use of the " glide guitar", developed by the Irish-English band My Bloody Valentine, in which pitch bends are achieved via the whammy bar during chord strumming to create a woozy, undulating effect. These textures are frequently described as blurred or atmospheric and are designed to blend seamlessly, creating a continuous sonic field.

Imagery

A significant portion of early shoegaze output was released as extended plays (EPs), often consisting of three to five tracks. This format enabled artists to develop and showcase their sound without the constraints of full-length albums. EPs served as important entry points for new listeners and were regarded as accessible representations of a band's stylistic identity.

Visually, shoegaze releases often incorporate abstract or distorted imagery in album artwork and music videos, mirroring the genre's sonic qualities. Effects such as overexposure, blur, and color inversion are commonly used to complement the music's atmospheric qualities. Many notable early shoegaze bands featured both male and female members, contributing to a broader range of vocal timbres and a balance of musical sensibilities. Mixed-gender vocal interplay became a common feature in several influential acts.

A notable pattern within shoegaze is the frequent use of band and release names containing phonesthemes—clusters of sounds that evoke movement or fluidity (e.g., Swirlies, Swervedriver, ''Whirlpool'', ''Swoon''). According to a study written by Zac Smith, this trend has been interpreted as an unconscious branding strategy that reflects the genre's emphasis on swirling, indistinct textures and fluid sound design.

Etymology

According to ''Pitchfork'', shoegaze is "a particularly unusual genre in that its name describes neither a sound nor a connection to music history". The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during such concerts.

In a 2016 article for ''HuffPost'', Andy Ross claimed he coined the term ''shoegazing'' at a show on 3 September 1991 which featured Chapterhouse, Slowdive and Moose, because the bands' members seemed to be in "a state of trance by the footwear lurking semi-motionless beneath their low-slung guitars". Alternatively, ''The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music'' (1992) claimed that the first use of the name was in a concert review for Moose, published by ''Sounds'', in which the author referenced how singer Russell Yates read lyrics taped to the floor throughout the gig.

According to AllMusic: "The shatteringly loud, droning neo-psychedelia the band performed was dubbed shoegaze by the British press because the band members stared at the floor while they performed". The term was also used by the British music press to describe dream pop bands. Slowdive's Simon Scott found the term relevant:

However, to some, the term was considered a pejorative, especially by a part of the English weekly music press who considered the movement as ineffectual, and it was disliked by many of the groups it purported to describe. Lushs singer Miki Berenyi explained: Ride's Mark Gardener had another take on his group's static presentation: "We didn't want to use the stage as a platform for ego... We presented ourselves as normal people, as a band who wanted their fans to think they could do that too".

History

1960s–1970s

Forerunners

Phil Spector's Wall of Sound has been cited an influential production technique characterized by its prominent use of natural reverb and echo chambers. Additionally, the Velvet Underground have been widely credited as a foundational influence on many shoegaze acts inspiring bands like Spacemen 3, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdive, Ride, Galaxie 500, and Lush.Exclaim! Sound of Confusion article on Shoegaze
. Retrieved 22 September 2008. Additionally, Shoegaze has been described as "the spiritual successor" to 1960s "jangly psychedelia" typified by the Byrds.

"It's All Too Much", a song by the Beatles recorded in 1967 and released on '' Yellow Submarine'' (1969), " All I Wanna Do", a song from the Beach Boys' 1970 album ''Sunflower'' as well as the title track off Brian Eno's 1974 debut album ''Here Come the Warm Jets'', have all been retrospectively labeled "proto-shoegaze". Slowdive, who were fans of Eno's work, approached him to produce their album ''Souvlaki''. Although, declining, he spent a few days recording with the band, resulting in the tracks "Sing" and "Here She Comes".

Post-punk acts Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Cure were formative influences on shoegaze. Slowdive named themselves after the Siouxsie and the Banshees song of the same name, released in 1982, and took inspiration from the group in their early days. Their contemporaries Lush were originally called "The Baby Machines", a name taken from a Siouxsie Sioux lyric. Additionally, Slowdive were also influenced by Joy Division's dark and atmospheric sounds, songs like " The Only Mistake" being precursors to shoegaze.

Other precursors include Robert Fripp's guitar on David Bowie's 1977 song 'Heroes', and the English art punk band Wire whose 1979 single " Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" would later be covered by My Bloody Valentine. Indiana band MX-80 Sound's 1981 song "Obsessive Devotion" has also been cited as an early progenitor of shoegaze, and an influence on Sonic Youth.

1980s–1990s

Origins

During the early and mid 1980s, the English alternative rock and neo-psychedelia scenes produced several bands whose exploration of sounds and textures would impact shoegaze. Those bands included the House of Love, Spacemen 3, and Loop, the latter two of whom were notable influences on shoegazers Ride and Slowdive. American underground bands Sonic Youth, Galaxie 500, Dinosaur Jr., and Pixies were also cited by various shoegaze bands as touchstones for their respective sounds.

Whereas contemporary alternative rock movements of the time period were extremely male-dominated (Britpop, grunge), My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Lush, Cocteau Twins, Pale Saints, Curve and many other popular shoegaze acts had at least one prominent female musician who contributed key vocal elements and/or integral writing components to the music. In the 2014 film ''Beautiful Noise'', Kevin Shields noted that there were as many women as men in the shoegaze community.

The Scene That Celebrates Itself

The Scene That Celebrates Itself was the social and musical scene in the early 1990s within London and the Thames Valley area. The term was coined by ''Melody Maker'' Steve Sutherland in 1990 in a near-contemptuous gesture, focusing on how bands involved in the scene, rather than engaging in traditional rivalries, were often seen at each other's gigs, sometimes playing in each other's bands and drinking together.

Bands lumped into the 'scene' by the press included several of the bands that were branded with the shoegazing label, such as Chapterhouse, Lush, Moose and other (mainly indie) bands such as Blur (prior to the release of their single "Popscene"), Thousand Yard Stare, See See Rider and Stereolab. A prime example were Moose, who often swapped members with other bands on a given night. Moose's Russell Yates and Stereolab guitarist Tim Gane would often trade places, while "Moose" McKillop often played with See See Rider. Gane and his Stereolab colleague Lætitia Sadier even played on the 1991 session by Moose for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show.Peel Sessions: 16 April 1991 - Moose
", ''Keeping It Peel'', BBC

The bands, producers and journalists of the time would gather in London and their activities would be chronicled in the gossip pages of the music papers ''NME'' and ''Melody Maker''. The most famous club and focal point was Syndrome, which was located on Oxford Street and ran weekly on Wednesday nights. The ''NME'', in particular, embraced the scene, and the unity of the bands was probably advantageous to their careers, because when one band had a successful record, the other bands could share the publicity. The scene was extremely small and revolved around fewer than 20 individuals.

The first stirrings of recognition came when indie writer Steve Lamacq referred to Ride in an ''NME'' review as "the House of Love with chainsaws".

The shoegaze genre label was quite often misapplied. As key bands such as Slowdive, Chapterhouse and Ride emerged from the Thames Valley, Swervedriver found themselves labelled shoegazers on account of their own Thames Valley origins, despite their more pronounced Hüsker Dü-meets- Stooges stylings.Lester, Paul (12 September 1992). "Whatever Happened to Shoegaze?" ''Melody Maker'', p.6. Retrieved 12 April 2007 from Proquest Research Library.

Decline

The coining of the term "The Scene That Celebrates Itself" was in many ways the beginning of the end for the first wave of shoegazers. The bands became perceived by critics as over-privileged, self-indulgent and middle-class. This perception was in sharp contrast with both the bands who formed the wave of newly commercialized grunge music which was making its way across the Atlantic, as well as those bands who formed the foundation of Britpop, such as Pulp, Oasis

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