Shoegaze

Record #793: Deafheaven – Infinite Granite (2021)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

The backlash from “A Great Mass of Color” came so quickly, they might as well have been included in the press release. Black metal purists were quick to point to the undistorted guitars, lack of blast beats, and (gasp) clean vocals as proof that Deafheaven weren’t kvlt.

Subsequent singles rebutted the idea that it might be a one-off. And now that the album is out, we can see for ourselves that this softer palette weaves itself through the entire album. Even longtime fans have turned on them, saying this record sounds like an entirely different band. They’ve lost the plot. They’ve sold out.

And the whole time, I’ve said the same thing to them: besides the vocals, this is what Deafheaven has sounded like the whole time. 

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Record #785: Lantlôs – Wildhund (2021)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Lantlôs is German for “homeless,” or “without homeland,” and that name is certainly apt. Throughout their career, chameleonic German metal band has been stretching the borders of heavy music, unconcerned with citizenship in any genre. Their earlier albums, such as .neon and Agape were indelible entries in the blackgaze canon, featuring Alcest’s Neige on vocals. 2014’s Melting Sun was a transcendent work that shed itself of any of heavy music’s trope to create an album that was blissful while still being entirely heavy.

Seven years later, Lantlôs returns with Wildhund (German for “Wild Dog”), an album that uses all the same sonic textures to create what is almost a pop record. And even with all the band names they’ve dropped in the press materials, Wildhund sounds as without peer or homeland as they ever have.

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Record #783: M83 – DeadCities, RedSeas&LostGhosts (2003)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Before the double-album pop masterpiece that was Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming brought them widespread acclaim, M83 was an obscure, mostly instrumental act that blurred the line between shoegaze, post rock, and electronica.

On paper, the transition from experimental instrumental band to Billboard Charting Pop Group seems like it would yield albums that sound like completely different bands. However, the group’s sense of composition gives Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts the same sort of emotional storytelling and cinematic soundscapes that made Hurry Up such a huge hit.

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Record #782: Lush – Spooky (1992)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

For all the affection that early 90s shoegaze gets across the blogosphere, most of that attention is given to a very small number of bands. Namely, this attention is given to My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive (I’ve recently noticed that Ride, the third member of the longstanding Shoegaze Trinity, has been ignored or maligned by modern listeners).

And while these two powerhouses may be the most indelible members of the Scene that Celebrates Itself, there’s a lot of gold to glean in the history of the genre. Loveless aside, there are plenty of bands who offered the lush atmospheres and, otherworldly, dare I say spooky, melodies that are synonymous with shoegaze.

Take for instance, London fourpiece Lush and their debut album Spooky, which is both of those things.

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Record #775: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – B.R.M.C. (2001)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

The phrase “style over substance” is often thrown out as a pejorative—especially in music critique. But to use that phrase as an insult misses just how much weight style can carry when done right.

Take, for instance, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, shoegazer-garage rock revivalists whose appeal is often distilled with a simple, “they’re just so freaking cool.”

That isn’t to say that there’s no substance here—there’s plenty. But these songs wouldn’t be nearly as irresistible if they weren’t marinated in the Cool factor and slow-roasted over a fire of leather jackets and Wayfarer jackets for a full twenty-four hours.

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Record #771: Kellen – Lowercase God (2018)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

One of the things about having friends that run record labels is that sometimes, you’ll get curated bonuses thrown in with your orders. This is especially true of my friend Rob who runs Friend Club Records, who always includes trading cards of hockey players and handwritten notes with the cassettes I buy from him.

But sometimes, he’ll toss a record my way, which is how I was introduced to Kellen and their brilliant genre-bending EP Lowercase God.

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Record #754: In Parallel – Fashioner (2020)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

As much as I love old-school shoegaze and new wave, I might enjoy it just as much when the punks lay down their aggressive downstrokes and power chords to reappropriate those sounds and moods in earnest.

Granted, neither Hopesfall nor Celebrity have exactly shied away from integrating these retro influences in their brands of post-hardcore. Even at their heaviest, they’ve retained a sense of tunefulness and melancholy that recall bands like New Order, My Bloody Valentine, and of course The Cure.

But when members of those projects join forces to delve more sincerely honor those influences, the result is magical.

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Record #747: Jesu – Terminus (2020)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Few members of the music scene are as prolific as Justin Broadrick. Since the first Jesu release in 2004, he has had more than twenty releases through that project, including a number of studio albums, EPs, splits, and collaborative albums.

Of those albums, I fell deeply in love with 2007’s Conqueror several years ago, but haven’t found anything else in his extensive catalogue that has captured me quite as tightly.

That is, until last year’s Terminus, which showcases his brand of sparkling bedroom doomgaze in an understated yet compelling way.

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Record #744: Have a Nice Life – Deathconsciousness (2008)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

In the years since its release, I have often crossed paths with Deathconsciousness, the seminal debut record of goth/post-punk/shoegaze duo Have a Nice Life. At times, we’ve flirted. At others, I’ve tried to avoid eye contact. A few times, we sat down together and had a nearly incomprehensible conversation.

And yet, for all of its eldritch weirdness, there was something about this monolithic double album that has continued to call out to me. For a long time, the high prices of vinyl has kept me from exploring it any further, but when The Flenser announced another reissue (which came with a book!), I bought it almost out of impulse, unable to resist its alluring weirdness.

That impulse has paid off, as revisiting it again has proved it worthy of every ounce of its reputation.

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