Shoegaze – Nostalgia Central

Shoegaze – a genre of indie music characterised by its ethereal soundscapes, use of obscured swirling vocals, heavy guitar effects, and distortion (often producing an immersive wash of sound where no instrument is distinguishable from the other) – made a mild, wafty impact on the alternative music scene between 1990 and 1992 before being mocked into an eye-rolling stupor by the music press and finally crushed beneath the almighty mothership of My Bloody Valentine’s returning with the monumental Loveless.

The Jesus and Mary Chain and Cocteau Twins are considered pioneers of the Shoegaze movement, and some of the key artists of the genre included Ride (pictured above), Pale Saints, Lush (pictured below), Slowdive, Chapterhouse, The Boo Radleys, Moose, Swervedriver and – of course – My Bloody Valentine.

The term ‘Shoegaze’ – the name comes from the heavy use of guitar effects pedals, as band members were often looking down at their pedals during live concerts – was often considered a pejorative, especially by the English weekly music press, who considered the movement to be ineffectual, and the label was disliked by many of the groups it purported to describe.

The genre was ultimately sidelined by American Grunge and early Britpop acts, leading many bands to break up or reinvent their sound.

By the 2000s and 2010s, Shoegaze experienced a revival known as ‘Nu gaze’, gave rise to the ‘blackgaze’ fusion genre, and influenced ‘Christian Shoegaze’.

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