Clinic Stars Blend 1990s Slowcore and Dream Pop on ‘Only Hinting’
Detroit’s Clinic Stars draw you into their gauzy, poetic interior world and weave a cozy afghan of 1990s slowcore and dream pop on their debut LP, Only Hinting.
shoegaze
Otis Shanty Make Jangle Pop Magic ‘Up on the Hill’
With Up on the Hill, Otis Shanty have taken the guitar-based, dream pop template and reinvented it beautifully for a new era.
Wishy Offer a Fresh Take on Proven Sounds
Wishy’s debut LP reflects a band figuring out their style early in their career, but the strength of this album is likely to catapult them into indie stardom.
Wand Find Their New Gravitational Center on ‘Vertigo’
On Vertigo, psychedelic rockers Wand distill hours of material and add ornamentation to tracks that regularly favor mood over moments of grandeur.
DIIV Go Deep on ‘Frog in Boiling Water’
DIIV’s Frog in Boiling Water aspires to be a statement album, reflecting our zeitgeist of right-wing extremism, global conflict, and environmental collapse.
Ride Turn Dreamy on New Album ‘Interplay’
Ride continue their second phase with ‘Interplay’, an album full of melodic atmosphere lacking some of the creative yearning heard in their earlier work.
The Wondrous Weirdness of Deerhunter’s ‘Weird Era Cont.’
Deerhunter’s Weird Era Cont., the companion to Microcastle, lives in its shadow and yet eclipses it with a bizarre brilliance all its own.
‘In Ribbons’ Reissue Revisits Experimentation of Pale Saints
Delayed a year due to Covid, the 30th anniversary re-release of In Ribbons by Pale Saints last October is a reminder of how expansive shoegaze can be.
A Full Remix Makes Deafheaven’s ‘Sunbather’ Worth Revisiting
Deafheaven’s Sunbather was the first time a black metal act broke through the clutter of heavy metal releases to be appreciated outside of the genre’s fans.
Shoegazers Drop Nineteens Return with Excellent ‘Hard Light’
Quickly after becoming early 1990s shoegaze darlings, Drop Nineteens disbanded. Now, 30 years later, they return with a renewed purpose and a new album.
Slowdive’s ‘Everything Is Alive’ Is a Masterpiece of Subtlety
From the haunted guitars to the impressionist vocals, from the most spell-binding drones to the brisk tempos, this is a Slowdive album through and through.
Modern Time Machines Travel Back to the Beach Boys
Ben Golomb of shoegaze band Modern Time Machines sees whole worlds in old things. Beachtime gazes dreamily into the Beach Boys.