Genres: shoegaze, alternative rock, nu-gaze, dreampop, space rock, etc.
If you know shoegaze, then you definitely know about Slowdive. These pioneers of the genre have had lasting success spanning multiple decades. If you don’t know what shoegaze is, it’s a subgenre of rock that’s described as being “[c]haracterized by overwhelmingly loud, distorted guitars and echoing reverb,” and it “deemphasizes the vocals, often treating the human voice as just another instrument in a wash of sonic texture.” The result is often dreamy, spacey, and enthralling. I would most often listen to Slowdive’s “Souvlaki” freshman year of college while gazing out my window to the twinkle of city lights against the night sky. Since then, I’ve found a huge variety of amazing shoegaze bands to enter into my rotation when I want to listen to this type of music or stare out listlessly into space; a few of these bands are featured in this post. Per usual, I’m skipping the obvious picks – My Bloody Valentine, Lush, and Cocteau Twins – that you probably already know and listen to if you like Slowdive. I tried to mostly organize the bands from most to least similar to Slowdive.
Eternal
Slowdive’s guitarist Christian Savill was formerly a part of the band Eternal. The band’s sound is super reminiscent of Slowdive itself, likely because of this connection, and the infamous unreleased Slowdive song “Sleep” is actually a cover of Eternal’s original song. They only have the one EP available, but you can still find it on large streaming services like Spotify. The songs are subdued and dreamy, so if you’re looking more music like Slowdive’s early releases then this band is the one for you.
Catherine Wheel
I wanted to include a band that shared a stage with Slowdive, and Catherine Wheel played with Slowdive on the Souvlaki tour. This band is a bit more reminiscent of the overarching alternative rock style of the 90’s, but they still have that shoegaze-esque guitar distortion that so strongly marks the genre. I think that’s actually one of their strongest aspects, as their songs often have a really cool guitar solo. The vocals are typically more discernable than typical shoegaze, slightly more removed from the background instrumentals instead of blending into them. I really like their album “Ferment,” but they have a number of albums you can pick to try out or sample.
Alison’s Halo
Alison’s Halo is a criminally underrated American shoegaze band from the 90’s that found inspiration in shoegaze titans like Slowdive. They only have one album available on Spotify, but, unlike the last band, their one release is an hour and a half long album with sixteen total songs. Their Bandcamp also has a few more releases, primarily live. I think Alison’s Halo sound is very true to the original 90’s shoegaze sound, with a heavy atmosphere, prominent melodic and ringing guitars, and soft vocals that don’t rise much above the haze of instrumentals around them. Most of the songs are sleepy and dreamy, with fewer upbeat songs, if you can even call them that. I highly recommend trying them out as I love the whole album; even if you can’t commit to listening to the whole album, definitely pick out a few tracks.
Sway
This band began releasing music in the early 2000’s, so they’re fairly close timewise to the main era of Slowdive. I think their music sounds most similar to Slowdive’s earlier albums. They don’t have a large catalogue of music, but I suppose you can say this is a quality over quantity type of band. They have a sleepy, hazy quality to their music like a lot of 90’s shoegaze does. All of the pieces of the songs blend together into a sort of sonic soup, melting into each other like butter. I think if they had more music and were more well known, they’d be on most people’s shoegaze playlists.
Doused
This is a newer Philadelphia shoegaze band. They currently only have one album, “Murmur,” and it evokes a very similar vibe as classic 90’s shoegaze. I saw them perform about a year or two ago, and they had a Freaks and Geeks episode playing behind them during the show (if you ask which one – I wouldn’t know). Anyway, it was nice to go back and forth between watching the band and (mostly) the silenced episode and zone out to the music. I feel like that’s a sign of good shoegaze – can I just kind of close my eyes, bob my head around to the melody, and enjoy the time passively? The answer for this band is yes, as it was when I saw Slowdive perform last year, so I thought Doused would be a good addition to the list.
You’ll Never Get to Heaven
I think you’ll like this band if you’re more into Slowdive’s newest album, “everything is alive.” It’s a little more ambient and experimental, yet still maintains that atmospheric and intangible quality that a lot of Slowdive’s music has. I think their album “Images” is most comparable to “everything is alive,” so that could be a good starting place for you if you’re interested in this band. My favorite track on the album by far is “Exquisite Tension.” This recommendation might be a bit of a stretch, but I think that the qualities underlining the music, the emotional guts of the music, match well with Slowdive.
Futureheaven
This is another newer band, and Futureheaven has only started releasing music in the past year or so. They only have one EP and a single out right now, but they’re a good band to keep on your radar as they release more music. I wasn’t sure if I should include this band since they have so little music out, but I really do think that they do a good job of reviving the shoegaze style of the 90’s. I think a lot of newer shoegaze bands are on the heavier side, at least the newer ones I listen to, but this is a new band that feels more strictly shoegaze without veering into grunge or metal. If they do release more music soon, I’ll come back to this post to revise based on the new album/EP.
Share Your Thoughts!
That’s all for the list for now. It could go on and on, so maybe in the future I’ll do a part two or something similar. Weirdly, a lot of the bands I thought fit really well had fairly small discographies, so maybe next time I’ll find bands with more releases. Comment below if you knew some of these bands already, if you found a new favorite from this list, or if you have another band you want to add on to the recommendations! I’m sure other readers would appreciate more ideas, and I’d love to see what else you all think should be on this list. If you liked this post, please share it with a friend or subscribe to my blog for more posts like this. If you’re already subscribed, thanks for coming back to read my new posts!
xoxo,
Emily
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