The idea of psychedelic rock is typically associated with the mid to late sixties, the time when crude garage rockers across America and England put down their guitars to free their hands for a smoke and a sitar.
A lot of spacey music, creepy album covers (see The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators) and colorful clothing ensued, though this would later be largely undone by the revolution of 1977. However, what Johnny Rotten and Joe Strummer didn’t see coming was psychedelia’s triumphant return in the late 80s and early 90’s
The rebuilding of psychedelic music came, like the first wave, from back to the basics rock and roll. Sure, the punks broke everything down temporarily, but it was only a matter of time before someone else came and picked up the pieces and went to work. The primary difference between psychedelia of the 60s and the 80s is that no one had to put down their guitars this time.
Rebuilding in Punk's Wake: The Foundations of Shoegaze
Shoegaze had its origins with guitarists who weren’t afraid to push the boundaries of their instruments. After punk struck the limitations of the instrument were challenged by individuals like Johnny Marr and bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain that saw effects pedals as a gateway to new sonic possibilities. Whether it was Marr’s shimmering, layered approach or William Reid’s bludgeoning one it was clear that the severely manipulated electric guitar was the gateway to a new generation of rock.
And so, with the punk aesthetic firmly implanted in the minds of kids all over England the idea of shoegaze began to form. Young people with limited musical experience formed bands with the intent of expanding on punk’s blueprint, namely that the best song is often the least complex one. So, bands sought ways to make the tired three-chord format new again, and the use of guitar effects was an apt solution. Treatments like reverb, distortion, chorus and delay allowed a single guitar to create a Phil Spector-worthy wall of sound.
Thus shoegaze was born, though it would not gain that particular label until the peak of its popularity. The first band to incorporate a distinctive shoegaze sound was My Bloody Valentine, whose 1988 E.P. You Made Me Realise and the title track’s stuck-in-a-jet-engine feel provided a blueprint for future shoegazers to follow. In addition to the nearly unrecognizably warped guitars the E.P. featured another trademark of the genre, ethereal vocals with nearly indistinguishable lyrics. The cumulative effect of the vocals and guitars was to lend a hazy, dreamlike quality to the music.
A great many bands followed in My Bloody Valentine’s noisy wake, including Chapterhouse, Ride, Slowdive, Lush, among others. Their music ran the gamut from the hazy pop of Slowdive’s Soulvaki to the mind and eardrum shattering cacophony of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, but each band associated with the genre shared similar attributes with regard to vocals and guitar sound.
Out of Obscurity...: Shoegaze gains wide recognition
In the early 1990s shoegaze began to accumulate a large following, and it forced the English music press to deal with the racket coming out clubs around London and the Thames Valley. One of the first labels to stick was “The Scene That Celebrates Itself”, coined for the members of the genre’s tendency to support each other’s bands rather than engaging in rivalries.
The latter label, and the one used frequently in this article without any explanation thus far, was shoegaze. The term refers to the musicians’ performing style, generally characterized by constant downward looking and little movement in order to manipulate the effects pedals necessary to produce the genre’s trademark guitar sound.
...And Back Again: The Scene Reclaims its Place in the Underground
The time that nomenclature evolved for the latest craze in British music was also the time it began to fall out of favor. By the early to mid 90’s Grunge and Britpop began to take hold when people decided that familiar sounding guitars and discernable lyrics weren’t such a bad thing after all. Britpop, with its anthems focusing on daily life, found favor with a broad audience. This was the death knell for the shoegaze craze, which never incorporated direct lyrics into its psychedelic approach and could not compete with Britpop’s poignant social commentary.
While shoegaze did fall from prominence in the mid 90’s, it never entirely became extinct. Its legacy lives on in eardrum manglers A Place To Bury Strangers, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and many bands functioning below the mainstream radar. Some prominent acts like The Smashing Pumpkins, while not being entirely shoegaze, have taken cues from the music’s guitar warping tendencies. Chances are that shoegaze will have a long legacy because it proved that a guitar, a few chords, and a ton of effects are the only ingredients needed to create otherworldly psychedelia, no sitar necessary.
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