Given the critical backlash and derision Shoegaze garnered in the nineties at the hands of the British music press and publications such as the NME and Select, who favoured bland sixties Britpop revivalism (Oasis, Blur, Supergrass take a bow), the resurgence in recent times has proven somewhat surprising. Continue reading
Despite offering the best balance of sonic heaviness and atmospheric dynamics when done right, the Shoegaze genre can find bands all too often relying on the nostalgia of nineties guitar sounds and becomes an airy dungeon for gear fiends with a pedal fetish to instruments within. This is not the case on Midscale’s new EP, Dread, This Could Save You. Instead, the French band invests in songwriting and gives vocals more of a priority, rather than relegating them to just being a human layer in a sea of delay.
A Short History Of Decay And Ruin (Run For Cover Records) is Nothing‘s fifth album. It opens with a more organic feel as a new level of vulnerability is exposed with the strum of an acoustic guitar and the vocals stepping out from behind the indifferent haze of effects. A clever way to lure you into this album, it gives the impresion Domenic has stepped away from Shoegaze into some kind of Emo/Indie Rock, but by the time you get to the second song and lead single “Cannibal World,” it’s clear to see this is not the case, but he is still toying with the expectations of what Shoegaze can be as a break beat drum sample keeps the song moving. Yet the main vibe that consumes the overall sound is a return to the woozy swirl of My Bloody Valentine-influenced guitars.