In 10 Songs is an entry point to tracing musical trends and exploring artist discographies. Today, we look at shoegaze’s second wind.
It’s almost funny to think how angry some of shoegaze’s detractors were in the early ’90s: “‘Sing’ aside, I would rather drown choking in a bath full of porridge than ever listen to it again,” said a writer for Melody Maker, a then-influential British music publication, about Slowdive’s seminal 1993 album Souvlaki. This was a style of dream pop that was as abrasive as it was sedative, that showed the lines between sadness and bliss were thinner than ever. But after the British press deemed shoegaze as “The Scene That Celebrated Itself,” there was a perception that shoegaze was an inherently selfish, inaccessible art form that wallowed for the sake of wallowing and would soon burn out like other trends.
In a way, they were right. The fervor around shoegazers — a title given to bands with this specific, ethereal sonic style, who spent stage time managing their pedalboards instead of connecting with the audience — began to decline in the mid ’90s after Britpop and grunge’s ascension. Meanwhile, shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine called it quits, Slowdive shifted gears with the experimental (and mostly panned) Pygmalion, and the appropriately-named Lush abandoned the genre altogether. By 1998, shoegaze had become merely a youthful memory.
But as history has shown us, one generation’s trash can become another’s treasure. The fundamentals of shoegaze — loud, washy guitars, wispy vocals, wall-of-sound production, and stoner-friendly pop melodies — became appropriated by newer classes of musicians throughout the ensuing decades. Shoegaze began to see some small revival efforts throughout the 2000s from the likes of M83, The Radio Dept., and My Vitriol. And when the streaming era arrived and My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive mounted successful reunions throughout the 2010s, interest in the genre skyrocketed.
Now shoegaze is beloved by Gen Z, appearing frequently on TikTok and inspiring young, rising musicians. As genres blend together at a faster rate than ever before, shoegaze has not been merely imitated — it’s been expanded. While emo acts in the 2000s wouldn’t have touched the kind of reverb pedals associated with shoegaze, they certainly do now; meanwhile, black metal bands Deafheaven and Alcest helped popularize shoegaze fundamentals within a heavy metal presentation.
From around 2012 until today, shoegaze has transformed from its origins in moody British basements to a global phenomenon. Read our guide of the 10 most essential shoegaze revival tracks below, and scroll to the end for a playlist of every track.
–Paolo Ragusa
Associate Editor
