Shoegaze - A History
In the first of this new feature, The Real Thing examines why certain genres are so important in the wider context of music. For this first edition we have chosen to examine Shoegaze.
In
the early 1990s there was a certain style of music floating about on the
airwaves. Bands in the UK and America were creating a huge atmospheric sound
whilst maintaining an incredibly high level of guitar technique. It wasn't
indie, it wasn't rock and it wasn't hip-hop. It took the whole loud-quiet
dynamic that grunge gave us and put a sheen over it. Bands like Slowdive, Ride
and My Bloody Valentine were the frontrunners. A new craze was born; its name
was Shoegaze.
The
first place to stop on this shoegaze adventure is My Bloody Valentine's - some
say genre defining - album 'Loveless'. If we just begin with the album cover
itself (see below) it's very simple, just a close up of a guitar seemingly in
motion. And as soon as the first song starts, the cover makes total sense.
Kevin Shields the bands guitarist pushed the boundaries of what a guitar should
sound like. With the aid of various effects pedals and guitar techniques he was
able to create a truly unique and monstrous sound. Along with invigorating
drums and wrenching vocals, many say MBV created the sound that summed up the
genre. I however disagree. Album opener "Only Shallow" is as good as
the album gets. The guitar screeches and slides all over the place and the
vocal delivery is exquisite, but thereafter the energy drops. No other tracks
have that initial feel of shock and fascination. The songs feel very long and
at times tedious. Shields apparently spent a lot of time on the album to make
sure it sounded like what he wanted it to. I think he went too far and in a
way, killed what he was trying to create.
After
MBV showed the world what could be done to a guitar if pushed to the edge,
bands who had been around at a similar time started to create music where the
guitar was front and centre. An example of this were Slowdive. Although, they
didn't push the guitar, they created a sound where every instrument was
important as the other. 'Souvlaki' released in 1993 is what I think perfectly
summarised shoegaze as a genre. It's such a soft album that glistens like rain
falling when the sun is out. It takes full advantage of the loud-quiet dynamic,
it's also powerful yet beautiful. The track that brings all of this together is
"When The Sun Hits" which is draped in dreamy guitar effects. It
hooks you right from the start and turns in to exactly what you want to hear.
The drums are subtle and the vocal - similarly to "Loveless" - is
unique. It's emotive and fits the music perfectly. Elsewhere on the album we
have another stand-out track "Alison" another dreamy song opens the
album and it doesn't disappoint. The chords are plucked rather than strummed
creating a hazy, intricate sound whilst 'Loveless' is guitar porn.
"Machine Gun" is just beautiful. Every single element of the song
works. From the high angelic vocals to the ever so subtle acoustic guitar in
the background, there are more songs on 'Souvlaki' that define the genre than the
entirety of Loveless. It's like an unsung hero, quiet and hidden away but give
it the time of day and it will astound you.
Ride
were another band to ride the shoegaze wave. However, they mixed in a more basic
approach which involved them writing songs with a distinctly indie sound, but
with shoegaze parts added in. They did release of the albums that put shoegaze
on the map. 'Nowhere' was an album which had many influences including 80s
indie-pop and 60s psych-pop. Although 'Nowhere' made the top 75, the album is
now renowned for it's innovative style. It doesn't quite live up to the
billing. There isn't really a song that stands out as genre-defining like
"Machine Gun" and "Loveless". "Vapour Trail" is
the hit on the album, but it sounds very indie and wouldn't sound out of place
alongside the Manchester-based indie bands around.
Recently,
there has been a mini-revival within the shoegaze genre. Bands have reformed
like Ride and Lust and new bands have come to the surface citing the
aforementioned bands as influences. Bands like Childhood and Gengahr who have a
distinctly shoegaze/psychedelic qualities with the jangly guitar effects. To
some extent, bands like Eagulls whose track "Lemontrees" fits in
to this category too. The genre is as popular today as it's ever been. In
terms of the future, shoegaze has been incorporated in to many genres like
indie and rock, so we may see the term banded around from time to time, but it
won’t be solely shoegaze.
Post a Comment