Shoegaze is a sub-genre of Indie Rock music (or, more specifically, Dream Pop) that emerged in London and the Thames Valley in the late 80s and peaked in penetration and exposure on both sides of the pond in the mid-90s.

Origin of the Term: The term "Shoegaze," was coined by the British music press, either Melody Maker or NME, to define to the pre-Britpop variety of UK Alt Rock in which bands and performers presented a shy, introspective and withdrawn presence on the stage—they looked at their shoes when they played.

Often the term is used as an attack to assert the lack of showmanship and experience of Shoegaze bands, and in some cases, their pretension, but another interpretation of the term directly ties it with the actual aesthetics of the music itself. The use of distortion and effects pedals on guitars to create the oft-mentioned "wall-of-sound" is a dominant feature of Shoegaze music, and therefore guitarists filtered their instrument through several pedals to create the desired effect. When playing live, these guitarists starred at their feet to switch the various effects on and off and fiddle with their settings.

The Music:
As previously mentioned, the dominant feature of Shoegaze is the "wall of sound" as created through the various layering of backing instruments (bass, vocals and drums) and distorted, droning guitar and fuzz.

In straightforward pop music, instruments are separate but complimentary to each other. The vocals are layered on top of the song and each instrument occupies a space in the ear's register. In Shoegaze music, each instrument, including the vocals, drones into each other to create a flattened-out wave of sound. Although it ceases to be the main focus, a strong sense of melody is present in the genre, as created by simplistic vocals, basic lead guitar riffs and catchy, repetitive bass lines. This melody is submerged into a larger amorphous, nebulous and atmospheric field of sound created by one or more rhythm guitar parts. The end result is an eerie but straightforward pop song with a murkier and more tremulous edge, and an emotionally heightened presentation.

If you've ever uttered the phrase, "Its just noise," and the band playing it didn't have mohawks, tattoos, or skin-tight leather pants, but rather, looked like sheepish art school students, you were probably listening to Shoegaze.

Originators and Propagators:
Although many trace the Velvet Underground as the key influence of Shoegaze music, the genre finds its most direct musical predecessor in the early 80s UK Post Punk movement. Despite the atmospheric, larger sound of Shoegaze, a minimalist songwriting aesthetic pervades throughout the genre, as does a sense of artistic self-consciousness and middle-class nihilism. Most obviously the music of the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Psychocandy album stands before the genre, as does the early Cure album Disintegration. The Cocteau Twins and Spaceman 3 are often cited as influences, as are Sonic Youth (but they invented everything right?). Parallels to the American bands Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh are also often drawn.

The definitive bands of the genre are My Bloody Valentine (who are often cited at the inaugurators of Shoegaze with their early work), Lush, Kitchens of Distinction, Chapterhouse, Ride, Curve, the Boo Radleys, Catherine Wheel, Slowdive, and The Verve.

Four Key Albums:
Ride - Nowhere (1990)

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (1991)


Slowdive – Slowdive (1990)

Curve - Doppelgänger (1992)

The Year Shoegaze Broke:
Shoegaze, like so many other genres (or fads), was media-fueled from the get-go and fizzled before it really had any time to develop. The BBC's John Peel was a big proponent of the genre and had bands on to the Peel Sessions even before they had released an album. NME was also a main offender and often trotted out and hyped bands—as they still do today—as the ‘next big thing.' NME also went so far as to propagate a quasi-hipster lifestyle around the genre. The unflagging media exposure and the cooler-than-thou tone of the coverage generated a backlash that was ultimately borne by the bands themselves. By the mid-90s, Shoegaze bands were seen as purposefully obscure, self-indulgent and lacking any real musical ingenuity. The genre was totally eclipsed by the emergence of Britpop Proper, in the form of Oasis, Blur, Pulp and Suede; lyricism and straightforward songwriting again prevailed in British rock music.

Shoegaze in China:
With the decline in the novelty and popularity of Shoegaze music in the mid-90s, due to its inability to make a real impact in the United States and the emergence of Britpop, most of the aforementioned bands have either broken up or moved into less explored (or not recently rehashed) rock and electronic terrains. The renaissance of Shoegaze, however, has been argued by rock critics in recent years who trace Shoegaze influences in many of the new American bands rehashing the Post Punk sounds of The Cure, The Cocteau Twins, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Of course, an appreciation for My Bloody Valentine is a hipster prerequisite but many bands, looking beyond the post-punk sound, are venturing into the atmospheric, Dream Pop sounds of Shoegaze to add more depth to their faux-nihilistic sound. Hello, Interpool.

Shoegaze in China, interestingly enough, is thriving and there are several bands generally billed as "post-rock" that wear their Shoegaze influences on their sleeve. Sonic Youth, of course, just played two shows in the PRC, but even before that the band was highly regarded by young Chinese musicians and bands simply because they pose an alternative to the various forms of straight Punk Rock without sacrificing the intensity of the music. The band that was supposed to open up for them in Beijing, the Carsick Cars, bills themselves as a Shoegaze band and they have a dedicated following in China's capital. In Shanghai, several bands have Shoegaze leanings, Booji and The Muscle Snog for example, and in Wuhan, Hualin (playing a show in Shanghai in July), also have a similar emphasis on layered rhythm guitar. For young musicians, the appeal of Shoegaze, like Punk Rock, is that you don't have to be a technical virtuoso to play it. All you need is some interesting guitar pedals and effects. It is also relatively simple to create a unique sounding "guitar drone" with said pedals if you turn everything up loud enough.