Shoegaze (originally known as shoegazing) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterised by its ethereal soundscapes, use of obscured vocals, heavy guitar effects, and distortion, often producing an immersive "wall of sound". Shoegaze originated in the United Kingdom during the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups, who drew influence from post-punk and dream pop. The term was coined by the British music press to describe bands who usually stood motionless and stared down at their guitar pedals during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state.
The genre reached its peak in the early 1990s, particularly in the UK's underground rock scene, but was soon 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". The original scene also led to the emergence of fusion genres such as blackgaze and christian shoegaze, along with internet microgenres like shitgaze and witch house. By the 2020s, a new shoegaze revival would be spearheaded by Generation Z artists, known as "zoomergaze".
Shoegaze combines ethereal, swirling vocals with layers of distorted, bent, or flanged guitars to create a wash of sound where no instrument is distinguishable from the other.[3][1] The sound of the genre is typically characterised by overwhelming volume, long, droning riffs, heavy use of distortion and feedback, and subdued vocal delivery, with melodies often fading into the mix.[1]
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".[11] It is sometimes conflated with dream pop.[12][13] Early UK shoegaze was influenced by American bands such as Dinosaur Jr., Hüsker Dü and Sonic Youth.[14]
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.[15] 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.[15][16] These textures are frequently described as blurred or atmospheric and are designed to blend seamlessly, creating a continuous sonic field.[17]
Imagery
A significant portion of early shoegaze output was released as extended plays (EPs), often consisting of three to five tracks.[18] 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.[19]
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.[15]
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.[15]
While many contemporary alternative rock scenes such as grunge and Britpop were largely male-dominated at the time, shoegaze bands including My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Lush, Pale Saints, and Curve, among others, featured at least one prominent female member who contributed significantly to their sound and songwriting. In the 2014 film Beautiful Noise, Kevin Shields noted that "there seemed to be as many girls around as guys" in the shoegaze scene.[20]
According to Pitchfork, shoegaze is "a particularly unusual genre in that its name describes neither a sound nor a connection to music history".[21] The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during such concerts.[22][2][1][23]
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 "sucked into a state of trance by the footwear lurking semi-motionless beneath their low-slung guitars".[24] 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.[25]
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".[1] The term was also used by the British music press to describe dream pop bands.[26]Slowdive's Simon Scott found the term relevant:
I always thought Robert Smith, when he was in Siouxsie and the Banshees playing guitar [on the 1983's Nocturne live video], was the coolest as he just stood there and let the music flood out. That anti showmanship was perfect so I never really understood why people began to use "shoegaze" as a negative term. I think if Slowdive didn't stand there looking at what pedal was about to go on and off we'd have been shite. [...] I am glad we were static and concentrated on playing well. Now it is a positive term.[27]
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.[3]Lush's singer Miki Berenyi explained:
Shoegazing was originally a slag-off term. My partner [K.J. "Moose" McKillop], who was the guitarist in Moose, claims that it was originally leveled at his band. Apparently the journo was referring to the bank of effects pedals he had strewn across the stage that he had to keep staring at in order to operate. And then it just became a generic term for all those bands that had a big, sweeping, effects-laden sound, but all stood resolutely still on stage.[3]
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".[23] I
Early British post-punk bands were formative influences on the first wave of shoegaze.[39]Wire's 1979 single "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" would later be covered by My Bloody Valentine. Slowdive named themselves after the Siouxsie and the Bansheessong of the same name, released in 1982, and took inspiration from the group in their early days, while Lush were originally called "The Baby Machines", a name taken from a Banshees lyric.[40] Other influences include Robert Fripp's echo-laden guitar on David Bowie's 1977 song "'Heroes'",[41][42] as well as the Cure.[43]
Often classified as dream pop, Scottish band Cocteau Twins (pictured in 1986) paved the way for the shoegaze scene
As a music genre, shoegaze developed during the 1980s, when a group of British neo-psychedelic bands such as Cocteau Twins, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and—most notably—My Bloody Valentine expanded the possibilities of the electric guitar, pairing dense, textural soundscapes with subdued, introspective vocals that challenged the traditional idea of the singer as the frontperson of a band.[44]
Emerging from the UK alternative scene with their 1982 debut album Garlands on 4AD, the Scottish trio Cocteau Twins had a substantial influence on the development of shoegaze.[45] Their music featured ethereal, atmospheric guitar textures crafted by guitarist and producer Robin Guthrie, and distinctive vocals by Elizabeth Fraser, whose often unintelligible singing was mixed low in the recordings.[46]
Another Scottish group, the Jesus and Mary Chain, is widely regarded as the immediate forerunner of shoegaze.[47] Blending traditional pop with noise and guitar feedback, their 1985 debut album Psychocandy exerted a major influence on the subsequent shoegaze bands, including the genre-defining My Bloody Valentine, with Creation Records founder Alan McGee noting that the latter "changed their style because of The Jesus and Mary Chain."[48]
Parallel to this, groups such as Spacemen 3 and Loop revived elements of 1960s space rock in their first albums (Sound of Confusion, 1986; Heaven's End, 1987), exploring minimalist, droning psychedelia over conventional pop structures.[49] Their rejection of stage theatrics and focus on sound itself anticipated the introverted, effects-driven aesthetic later associated with shoegaze.[50]
Across the Atlantic, American indie bands such as Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and Hüsker Dü also played an important role in shaping shoegaze's guitar language,[51] particularly influencing My Bloody Valentine.[52] In 1988, after undergoing several stylistic and lineup changes, My Bloody Valentine released their breakthrough third EP, You Made Me Realise, on Creation Records, which showcased frontman Kevin Shields' newfound approach to guitar playing, known as "glide guitar". Later that year, the release of their debut album Isn't Anything was widely acclaimed as innovative and credited with shaping the shoegaze genre.[11]
Shoegaze began to emerge as a distinct music scene in late 1989 and came into full view in 1990.[54] In September 1989, 4AD released Pale Saints' first EP, Barging Into the Presence of God, followed by Lush's debut mini-album Scar. Both records produced by John Fryer—who had previously worked with Cocteau Twins—were well received by the British music press and reached number 3 on the UK Indie Chart.[55] A co-headlining show by Pale Saints and Lush that December in Leeds further highlighted a new direction in British indie rock, despite a mixed live review from Melody Maker.[56]
In 1990, Ride emerged as shoegaze's most prominent act
In 1990, Ride emerged at the forefront of the movement. After signing with Creation Records the previous year, the group released three acclaimed EPs—Ride, Play, and Fall—followed by their debut album Nowhere. Their televised performance of "Drive Blind" on Snub TV coincided with their first EP's release, propelling them to national attention.[57] Critics in Melody Maker and NME praised Ride's blend of dense guitar textures and melodic songwriting,[58][59] while Nowhere—mixed by producer Alan Moulder after a troubled recording process[60]—became one of the genre's defining works.[11]
In February, Pale Saints released their debut album The Comforts of Madness, bridging dream pop and shoegaze's heavier edge.[61] That same month, Lush issued the Mad Love EP, produced by Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, whose mentorship refined the band's once-chaotic sound into a polished, "beautiful, primitive" record.[62] In April, Creation Records released My Bloody Valentine's Glider EP, whose track "Soon" reached number 2 on the UK Indie Chart and was later described by Brian Eno as "the vaguest music ever to have been a hit."[63] The label continued to expand the scene with debut EPs by Swervedriver (Son of Mustang Ford) and Slowdive (Slowdive EP), the latter earning Melody Maker's "Single of the Week."[64]
Meanwhile, The Boo Radleys released their debut album Ichabod and I on Action Records, which largely was overlooked by the press.[65]Chapterhouse followed with the Freefall and Sunburst EPs, while Lush's Sweetness and Light EP demonstrated shoegaze's pop potential despite Melody Maker's critique of its title track as "sorely over-produced".[66] The year's end also saw Swervedriver's Rave Down EP, which bassist Adi Vines described as "ethereal metal" after it earned praise in a heavy metal magazine.[67]
By the end of 1990, shoegaze had gained significant underground traction. John Peel included three Ride songs on his year-end Festive Fifty list.[68] Ride's Nowhere appeared in Melody Maker's Top 30 albums of 1990 (#20), while My Bloody Valentine's Glider (#5), Ride's Fall (#7), and Lush's Mad Love (#19) featured in the magazine's year-end singles poll.[69]
The Scene That Celebrates Itself
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a small, close-knit community of indie bands emerged in the Thames Valley region, including Oxford, Reading, and London.[70] Key groups such as Ride, Slowdive, Chapterhouse, Lush, Moose, and Swervedriver formed what became known as the original shoegaze scene,[71] with the exception of My Bloody Valentine.[72] The bands often attended each other's gigs, shared producers and labels (mainly Creation and 4AD), and even members, forming a friendly, self-supporting network rather than a competitive scene.[73]
Notable meeting places included Syndrome, a weekly indie club on Oxford Street, and venues such as the Camden Falcon, the Borderline, and the Underworld.[74] Outside London, shoegaze bands often toured together, and when the music press eventually took notice, the scene was quickly named and sensationalized.[75]
The phrase "The Scene That Celebrates Itself" was coined by Melody Maker journalist Steve Sutherland on June 8, 1991, in a review of a Moose concert at the Camden Falcon.[76] Sutherland noted that he was more struck by the audience than by the music, as the crowd was filled with members of similar bands applauding the performance.[77] Originally intended as a compliment,[78] the phrase was soon used pejoratively by the music press to portray the scene as idle, narcissistic, homogeneous, and detached from the working-class energy that had defined earlier British rock movements.[79] The shoegaze musician was ultimately caricatured as the "alpha student", a skinny, middle-class undergraduate with acne, wearing a bleach-faded T-shirt with blue and white circles, and carrying a copy of My Bloody Valentine's Isn't Anything under his arm.[80]
Blur's first single, "She's So High" (1991), exhibited traces of shoegaze influence.[87] However, Damon Albarn later denied any connection with the scene, stating that the band simply knew many of the musicians involved.[88] The term "shoegaze" is said to have been coined by Andy Ross, Blur's manager, as a mocking reference to the other bands.[89] Blur later adopted a brighter, pop-oriented sound with songs such as "Popscene" (1992), which foreshadowed the emergence of Britpop.
In 1991, after winning Melody Maker's end-of-year readers' poll for Best Band, Ride appeared on the magazine's January cover, which proclaimed them "Your Brightest Hope for a Grand New Year."[90] The group's extensive touring and the success of their fourth EP, Today Forever, further eleveted their profile and led to an appearance on Top of the Pops. While this moment marked shoegaze’s brief entry into mainstream culture, declining sales soon underscored the genre’s limited mass appeal.[91]
Early 1991 saw a wave of several influential shoegaze releases. While My Bloody Valentine's second album was still highly anticipated, Creation Records issued the Tremolo EP, showcasing Kevin Shields' growing experimentation with sampling.[92] Two weeks later, the label released Slowdive's Morningrise EP, which Melody Maker praised for its "mutant orchestral beauty".[93] Although Chapterhouse's third EP, Pearl, received a negative review in NME,[94] their debut album Whirpool became a commercial success.[95] New acts such as Moose and Curve debuted with Jack and Blindfold EPs respectively, the latter noted for its unusual blend of dream pop and techno production.[96] At the same time, Kitchens of Distinction released their second album Strange Free World, which, despite Patrick Fitzgerald's non-traditional vocal style for the genre, went on to become a shoegaze classic.[97]
In the first half of 1991, the scene continued to expand with releases by Mercury Rev (Yerself Is Steam), Catherine Wheel (She's My Friend and Painful Thing EPs), Pale Saints (Flesh Balloon EP), Slowdive (Holding Our Breath EP), and Swervedriver (Sandblasted EP). Yerself Is Steam represented an early example of shoegaze's sound influencing American indie rock.[98]
July 1991 was marked by the Slough Festival, often described as the "Shoegaze Woodstock."[99] Headlined by Ride and featuring Slowdive, Curve, and Revolver, the event was attended by members of Lush and Chapterhouse, reinforcing the music press term "The Scene That Celebrates Itself". That summer, Chapterhouse toured extensively, performing at major festivals such as Reading and Ein Abend in Wien in Rotterdam, where they first shared a stage with Nirvana.[100]
The release of Nirvana's Nevermind in September abruptly shifted global attention toward the Seattle sound, reducing media interest in shoegaze as coverage turned to grunge. The lukewarm reception of Slowdive's debut Just for a Day reflected growing critical fatigue in the British press.[101] In contrast, Swervedriver's debut album Raise received stronger reviews for its rugged, road-movie energy, distancing it from the "shoegaze" label.[102] Lush's Black Spring EP also performed well but was overshadowed by lineup changes and exhaustion from relentless touring.[103]
Shoegaze reached its peak of influence in November 1991 with the release of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. Noted for its innovative production and dense, immersive sound, the album—costing a reported £270,000 and recorded over two and a half years across nineteen studios—is often cited as the genre-defining work.[11] By late 1991, journalist Simon Reynolds introduced shoegaze to American audiences as "dream pop" in The New York Times.[104] Optimism briefly grew that the genre might become the next major British export, but within a year, the spotlight had shifted decisively toward Seattle.[105]
Decline
In 1992, shoegaze started to decline in popularity. Part of the growing backlash was linked to the perception that many shoegaze bands came from privileged, middle-class backgrounds.[106]NME reinforced this perception with a satirical column, "Memoirs of a Shoegazing Gentleman," written from the perspective of the fictional Lord Tarquin, who, in diary-like entries, described absurd situations at an elite boarding school supposedly attended by all shoegaze musicians.[107]
I think there was a genuine belief at the beginning that there was something middle class about the [shoegaze] music. I can’t really say why, but it wasn't party music, let’s say that.
In January 1992, Lush's debut album Spooky received a lukewarm review from NME, which described the band as "due for a good kicking" after "a good run of press encouragement."[108] A week later, Creation Records released the Boo Radleys' Everything's Alright Forever. NME hailed the band's confident attitude as a refreshing contrast to 1991's "(complacen)sea of mumbles."[109] Meanwhile, Ride moved beyond their early shoegaze sound, drawing influence from such bands as R.E.M. and Massive Attack on their second album Going Blank Again.[110] That year, Creation signed shoegaze band Adorable, who were ultimately dropped after a string of Top 5 singles and the release of their 1993 debut album Against Perfection.[111] Vocalist Pete Fijalkowski noted that after Sony partially acquired Creation in 1992, "there was enormous pressure on the label to make every band profitable".[112]
The first half of 1992 also saw the release of Ferment by Catherine Wheel, Doppelgänger by Curve, and In Ribbons by Pale Saints. Following Ferment, Catherine Wheel adopted a heavier, more metal-leaning sound on their 1993 album Chrome, later moving toward straightforward hard rock.[113]. In April 1992, the British music press began turning its attention toward the emerging Britpop movement, with Melody Maker featuring the then-unknown Suede on its cover as "The Best New Band in Britain."[114]
While facing growing hostility at home, shoegaze found renewed support in the US, where audiences were less influenced by the British music press.[115] In June 1992, American shoegaze band Drop Nineteens released their debut album Delaware, which Melody Maker's review ironically described as "the first decent album in a Scene style" to come from "America (Boston, to be precise), so late in the day."[116] Other American bands soon followed with their own debuts, including Lilys' In the Presence of Nothing and Medicine's Shot Forth Self Living in late 1992, and Swirlies' Blonder Tongue Audio Baton in early 1993.[116]
In September 1992, Moose released their debut album ...XYZ, produced by Mitch Easter, who had previously worked with R.E.M. The album largely departed from the band's earlier shoegaze sound, incorporating country influence.[117] That same month, Melody Maker ran a three-page feature by Paul Lester titled "Whatever Happened to Shoegazing?", which both announced Moose's new album and portrayed the British shoegaze scene as a brief, outdated phenomenon.[118]
A major turning point came in March 1993 with Suede's self-titled debut album, which became the fastest-selling debut in British history at the time and marked the rise of Britpop.[119] The movement accelerated in 1994 with greater successes for Blur's Parklife and Oasis's Definitely Maybe, presenting a lively, extroverted alternative to both grunge and shoegaze.[120] Oasis brought substantial commercial success to Creation Records, and after 1994 the label shifted its focus away from its earlier shoegaze roster.[112]
June 1993 saw the release of Slowdive's second album Souvlaki, which was dismised by Melody Maker's reviewer notoriously writing, "I would rather drown choking in a bath full of porridge than ever listen to it again."[44] That same month, Lush released Split to a lukewarm reaction both critically and commercialy.[121] Meanwhile, Swervedriver's second album Mezcal Head had a relative success, especially with the US audiences, where they toured with such bands as Soundgarden and the Smashing Pumpkins.[122]
Lush were among several shoegaze groups to adopt Britpop in their most commercially successful album, Lovelife.
In 1995, producer Alan McGee dropped Slowdive a week after Pygmalion was released,[125] and Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell, and Ian McCutcheon soon formed Mojave 3, pursuing a light, melodic blend of indie folk and Americana.[126] Swervedriver were dropped while nearing completion of their third album, Ejector Seat Reservation.[127] Ride, facing internal conflict, broke up in 1996 while working on their fourth album, Tarantula.[128] Lush, after achieving their highest chart success with Lovelife, ended abruptly the same year following drummer Chris Acland's suicide.[129] Meanwhile, My Bloody Valentine went on a two-decade hiatus, despite having signed with Island Records in 1992 for a reported £250,000.[123]
Christian shoegaze
Starflyer 59 made shoegaze immediately accessible within evangelical Christian communities throughout the United States.
Christian shoegaze emerged in the early 1990s alongside the rise of Tooth & Nail Records, founded in 1993 by Brandon Ebel to support Christian artists working outside mainstream CCM conventions.[131] One of the label's first signings was Starflyer 59, led by Jason Martin. Influenced by the idea of combining dreamy melodies with the heavy guitar riffs of bands such as Black Sabbath and Deep Purple,[132] The band's first three albums—Silver (1994), Gold (1995), and Americana (1997)—displayed a strong shoegaze orientation. Despite its troubled recording process, Gold became a notable release, later ranking number 41st on Pitchfork's "50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time" list.[11]
Throughout the 1990s, Tooth & Nail also supported a few other shoegaze-leaning Christian groups, including Morella's Forest and Velour 100. These bands expanded the boundaries of Christian alternative rock, but their experimentation often met with limited commercial success, along with frequent criticism from some conservative Christian audiences.[131] By the late 1990s, many of these groups shifted away from their early shoegaze sounds. Starflyer 59 incorporated brighter, more indie rock arrangements on albums such as The Fashion Focus.[133] Morella's Forest moved toward an electropop sound, while the Prayer Chain (signed to Rode Dog Records) disbanded after their 1995 album Mercury. The band's guitarist, Andy Prickett, later pursued non-Christian projects, producing young shoegaze acts such as the Autumns.[131]
While shoegaze briefly flared and then faded out in the UK, the bands of the initial wave had an immense impact on the development of regional underground and college rock scenes in the US.[134] In particular, a Lush and Ride tour of the US in 1991[135] directly inspired the spawning of American shoegaze groups including Drop Nineteens, Half String[136] and Ozean.[137] Columnist Emma Sailor of KRUI in Iowa City opines:
The insularity and introversion of British shoegaze was an intention[al] backlash against their country's mainstream. But when the shoegaze sound was exported to America, it arrived unattached from the cultural context that originally prompted its gloomy moods. The result? American indie bands gave shoegaze an entirely new image. Where the sound once was tightly linked with introversion, it was now attached to summery, outward looking songs with a focus on celebrating youth.[138]
About DC-based Velocity Girl's 1991 single "My Forgotten Favorite", Sailor goes on to note, "Could anything be more different—and yet so similar—to [Slowdive]? The hazy [production] and dreamy, high pitched female vocals are there, but the outlook is entirely different".
A resurgence of the genre began in the late 1990s (particularly in the United States) and the early 2000s, that helped usher in what is now referred to as the "nu gaze" era.[23][139] Also various heavy metal acts were inspired by shoegaze, which contributed to the emergence of post-metal and metalgaze styles.[140][141] Particularly in the mid-2000s, French black metal acts Alcest and Amesoeurs began incorporating shoegaze elements into their sound, pioneering the blackgaze genre.[142] The term shitgaze, a microgenre that further developed in the mid-2000s, was originally coined by the Midwestern rock band Psychedelic Horseshit to describe their style of music, with the label becoming appropriated by wider online music critics and blogs and later regarded as one of the earliest examples of an internet microgenre.[143] Notable acts in the scene include the Hospitals, No Age,[144]Times New Viking,[145] and early Wavves.[146][147][148] Shoegaze would also influence microgenres such as witch house.[149]
2010s–2020s: Revival
In eastern Asia the genre has become increasingly popular with bands such as Cocteau Twins influencing the creation of new "art school" shoegaze.[17] Bands like Tokyo Shoegazer and For Tracy Hyde have increasingly adopted western elements, with some bands combining Indie music with shoegaze and psychedelic rock.[150] Further, since the late 2010s, some artists began prominently incorporating emo themes into shoegaze, with albums like Weatherday's Come In (2019) and Parannoul's To See the Next Part of the Dream (2021) being examples.[151][152]
In the early 2020s, shoegaze experienced a revival among Generation Z, through internet spaces such as TikTok, with newer bands like Julie, Wisp and Fleshwater as well as an influence on digicore artists like Quannnic and Jane Remover. Multiple outlets described this as shoegaze's "revival", "resurrection" or "zoomergaze".[153][154][155][156] Irish band Fontaines D.C. have commented on shoegaze influences in their sound, particularly My Bloody Valentine; their fourth album Romance was particularly noted for this sound by reviewers.[157][158][159][160]
↑ Olivier Bernard: Anthologie de l'ambient, Camion Blanc, 2013, ISBN2-357-794151 «L'ethereal wave (et notamment les Cocteau Twins) a grandement influencé le shoegaze et la dream pop.»
↑ Lesuer, Mike (22 August 2023). "I Miss Shitgaze, Man". FLOOD Magazine. Retrieved 12 October 2025. shitgaze": a rough take on shoegaze where rather than 90 percent of the track being swallowed up by dense reverb, that percentage was instead reserved for ear-splitting lo-fi noise, tape hiss, and, occasionally, campy vocals shouting things like "welcome to hell, puker corpse!
↑ "Shoegaze / Dream Pop". MuzPlay. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2025. In a brief and simple way, shoegaze presents a harsher sound, in which the ethereal vocals are buried under layers of guitars, creating nebulous songs. In dream pop, there is more clarity in vocals and melodies, with soft sonorous textures that evoke dreams.
↑ Earles, Andrew (2014). Gimme Indie Rock. Voyager Press. p.189.
↑ Kaldy, Dana (29 April 2018). "The Wall of Sound". Got A Million Rhymes. Retrieved 12 October 2025. Shoegaze is inspired by Phil Spector's wall of sound, stemming from the aspect of overwhelming sound on a song's tracks.
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.18: "Adam Franklin: I feel like the template for shoegaze is probably 'Tomorrow Never Knows' by the Beatles."
↑ Doherty, Kelly (4 August 2017). "15 artists pick their favourite Brian Eno records". The Vinyl Factory. Archived from the original on 14 July 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2024. Peder Mannerfelt: I would like to argue that Brian Eno not only invented ambient music but also shoegaze with Here Come The Warm Jets
↑ Pritchard 2023: "Developed from The Velvet Underground's noisy garage rock, Cocteau Twins' dreamy, ethereal pop music and The Cure's gothic, textured sound from the early 1980s, shoegaze grew from a myriad of sounds and artists.
↑ Parys, Bryan (13 September 2019). "Shoegaze Music: 17 Songs That Chart the Genre's History—and Its Future". Berklee College of Music. Archived from the original on 30 October 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025. While they are often described as shoegaze, the term didn't exist ... but for many, the Jesus and Mary Chain is where the genre broke ground.
↑ Provis 2018, Les racines du mouvement: "«Les Jesus And Mary Chain ont eu une influence énorme sur le son de My Bloody Valentine et ce qui est connu maintenant sous le nom de scène shoegaze. Je pense même que My Bloody Valentine a changé leur style à cause de Jesus And Mary Chain» admet Alan McGee."
↑ Pinkard 2024, pp.22–23: "Sonic Boom: Spacemen 3 could be called a shoegaze band by the fact that we did not have any stage moves. ... It was all about the sound we were trying to create and not how we were trying to look."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.66: "Ride are almost too perfect, too great to be true," wrote Chris Roberts in a two-page spread in Melody Maker.
↑ Pinkard 2024, pp.69–70: "... Nowhere, both of which the NMEs Roger Morton compared to the first two EPs by saying, 'The songs are deeper, larger in scale ... the balance of noise and melody, nihilism and amazement, is perfectly preserved.'"
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.67: "... feature story for Melody Maker, Steve Sutherland hailed Mad Love as 'a beautiful, primitive record' ..."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.68: "... 'Soon'—which Brian Eno would famously call 'the vaguest music ever to have been a hit' after it reached number 2 on the UK Indie Chart ..."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.73: "... title track represents a high watermark of shoegaze's pop potential—even if Melody Maker thought it was 'sorely over-produced.'"
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.74: "... in year-end critics poll, only Nowhere placed in their Top 30 albums of 1990 (#20), while their year-end list of singles included My Bloody Valentine's Glider EP (#5), Ride's Fall EP (#7), and Lush's Mad Love EP (#19)."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.37: "... many of them came from the Thames Valley, a region immediately west of London that includes the towns of Oxford—home of Ride and Swervedriver—and Reading—birthplace of Chapterhouse and Slowdive."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.5: "... the original shoegaze scene—which included core acts Ride, Slowdive, Lush, Chapterhouse, Swervedriver, and Moose ..."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.37: "... the band that forged the genre's most supreme document, 1991's Loveless. Yet at the time, they were not part of the shoegaze scene so much as the progenitors of it."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.78: "Neil Halstead: It was a genuinely supportive scene."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.76: "... meeting points were Syndrome, a weekly indie music club hosted in a basement bar in Oxford Street, and venues like the Camden Falcon, the Borderline, the Powerhaus, and the Underworld."
↑ Provis 2018, «The Scene That Celebrates Itself»: "Tout a commencé lors du rapport d'un concert de Moose le 8 juin 1991 par Steve Sutherland. ... Étaient donc présents ce jour au Camden Falcon ..."
↑ Provis 2018, «The Scene That Celebrates Itself»: "Le journaliste a davantage été surpris par le public que par ce qu'il se passait réellement sur scène: en effet, tous les autres groupes pratiquant à peu près le même style que Moose se tenaient dans la fosse pour les applaudir!"
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.77: "Steve Sutherland: ... it's interpreted as a snarky critique. But it wasn't! It just captured my feeling that every time you went to see these bands, all the other bands were there, which was very unusual then."
↑ Provis 2018, «The Scene That Celebrates Itself»: "On a fini par caricaturer le musicien shoegaze, l'étudiant alpha, «le petit gringalet, fan de John Keats, étudiant de premier cycle issu de la classe moyenne, fils à maman qui s'appelle Quentin, avec de l'acné, un tee-shirt passé à la javel aux cercles bleus et blancs, et qui possède un exemplaire du Isn't Anything de My Bloody Valentine sous le bras» ..."
↑ Provis 2018, «The Scene That Celebrates Itself»: "... et passages intermittents au sein de groupes (See See Rider pour Russell et Stereolab pour Kevin) ..."
↑ Provis 2018, «The Scene That Celebrates Itself»: "... Lætitia Sadier de Stereolab a chanté pour Moose au cours des Peel Sessions ..."
↑ Provis 2018, «The Scene That Celebrates Itself»: "... Revolver a fait les premières parties de Chapterhouse ou Slowdive ..."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.78: "... core group of shoegazers: Slowdive, Ride, Swervedriver, Chapterhouse, Lush, and Moose. But beyond them, The Scene also included the likes of avant-pop group Stereolab—who often swapped members with Moose and lesser-known noise act Th' Faith Healers—and a young Blur.
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.78: "Also frequently lumped in by the press were shoegazey bands like Catherine Wheel, Curve, Cranes, Silverfish, and Pale Saints, whether or not they had any meaningful connection to the London club scene."
↑ Provis 2018, «The Scene That Celebrates Itself»: "... il déclare dans les interviews: «On n’a jamais fait partie de cette scène. Notre rapprochement est juste lié au fait qu'on y connaît pas mal de musiciens. Avant d'être reconnu par le NME ou le Melody Maker, on commence par parler aux groupes dans la même situation.»"
↑ Provis 2018, «The Scene That Celebrates Itself»: "La légende veut que le terme shoegaze fût inventé par Andy Ross, ni plus ni moins que le manager de Blur, et ce, afin de ridiculiser les concurrents."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.84: "Steve Queralt: Traditionally, you would go on Top of the Pops ... [and] you would find yourself at a higher position the next week. But when we did Top of the Pops, we immediately bombed out of the charts the following week, because the masses weren't interested in listening to our music."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.81: "Side A tracks "To Here Knows When" and "Swallow" showcased the band's newfound experimentation with sampling ..."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.86: "... the album spent three weeks on the UK Albums Chart and went on to be one of the year's biggest indie sellers ..."
↑ Provis 2018, Curve: "... Blindfold EP sort bien en mars 1991, imposant un mélange improbable techno / dreampop."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.85: "Although not members of The Scene and discounted from "the Sound" mainly by Patrick Fitzgerald's Morrissey-meets-Ian McCulloch singing style ..."
↑ Pinkard 2024, p.86: "... Yerself Is Steam, an early example of shoegaze's distinct guitar noise seeping into the American indie rock landscape."
↑ Jacobs, Koen (4 September 2008). "Metal Gaze – From My Bloody Valentine To Nadja via SunnO)))". The Quietus. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2012. ...the recent trend for combining metal's sense of threat with the immersive idyll of shoegazing is undeniable, and only one aspect of the ongoing cross-pollination taking place in extreme music. For his part, r views the 'metalgaze' movement as less entropic than cyclical.
↑ Zina, Natalie (26 February 2014). "The Translator Blackgaze". Exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
↑ Lesuer, Mike (22 August 2023). "I Miss Shitgaze, Man". FLOOD Magazine. Retrieved 12 October 2025. ..."shitgaze": a rough take on shoegaze where rather than 90 percent of the track being swallowed up by dense reverb, that percentage was instead reserved for ear-splitting lo-fi noise, tape hiss, and, occasionally, campy vocals shouting things like "welcome to hell, puker corpse!"
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