maybe reverb is just sonic drugs
it’s definitely Loveless
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I like them a lot better than Garbage personally, and they were around a few years before Garbage came around. I always suspected they were the inspiration for Garbage, but that’s totally my own opinion with zero to back it up.
Anyway they’re a great band and their releases are all a little different; their first album is much closer to traditional shoegaze and they get more and more electronic each album. I find their later releases a little bit or miss but I love their first couple of albums.
Also Dean Garcia made some music with his daughter as SPC ECO, which is also pretty good but more traditional shoegaze/dream pop.
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First half isn’t recognisably shoegaze but the way the second half breaks through has always struck me as very shoegaze-y. Great song anyway
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…aaargh this british music press, that always felt the desperate need to name and pump the next big thing…
really got desperate once they saw the first bands showing up in total denial of all showbiz rules, too introverted and too focused on their pedalboards, staring always down instead to face the aufience… 
and that the term “shoegaze” they came up with, would soon define a whole genre, even swapping some style into other genres…who would have guessed so…
when the “big” names of this genre had their days, i was into sisters of mercy, i’m afraid…
but hey, they were also kind of shy and staring down most of the time…
aaaand they always used a drum machine…
named their “drummer” always dr. avalanche in their linernotes…
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Well, in that case, I submit Hum and Failure for your enjoyment.
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I see your pancake, and I raise you a japancake:
also this:
.
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Gotta give a shoutout to former local act Screen Vinyl Image, which welded shoegaze guitar sounds to groovebox-driven beats in their distinctive fashion. They also supported shoegaze music in this region by booking touring acts for shows in the area.
One more band I’ve really liked a lot, and one of the bands I’ve probably seen play live the most, A Place To Bury Strangers led by Oliver Ackermann from the pedal company Death By Audio.
Pretty sure I was at one of the shows in the first video, in the basement of The Delancey in NYC.
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Shoegaze is one of my favourite genres, and Lush are right up there (was happy to catch them at Lolapalooza 2!).
Here is one of my faves by them
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Check out the Boo Radleys, Ride, Bedhead, I love shoegaze! Some favourites:
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And of course you’ll get a ton of MBV suggestions when asking about shoegaze. The Loveless album is a classic of the genre. I think this is the catchiest of the lot.
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Late 80s - early 90s style of indie rock from the British Isles. Kind of a mixture of ethereal post punk / goth, the dark side of psychedelia and Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr. style guitar excess. Naturally bands went from one extreme to the other, with some embracing the guitar excess fully (Ride, MBV, Swervedriver) and some sounding closer to The Cure, Cocteau Twins and Pink Floyd (Slowdive, Lush). The style died quickly thanks to trends shifting rapidly towards brit pop, with shoegaze bands following suit and releasing a bunch of boring dad rock and then splitting up.
Resurgence started in the 00’s, in the US and Japan mostly. Nowadays shoegaze, meaning distorted guitar with lots of effects has influenced everything from metal to electronic music and there’s a bunch of pretty good throw back bands.
Recommended listening:
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Slowdive - Souvlaki
Ride - Nowhere
Swervedriver - Raise
Catherine Wheel - Ferment
Nothing - Tired of Tomorrow
Jesu - Conqueror
You wouldn’t really call something like Swervedriver space rock at all, or Catherine Wheel. I don’t know if there’s anything really spacey with MBV either. Elements of space rock, meaning the Pink Floyd style can be heard in the shoegazing sound but I don’t think the bands were going for a spacey vibe at all, or at least I can’t hear it.
The distinction between dream pop and shoegaze however…
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I don’t usually think to consider The Boo Radleys in the shoegaze conversation, but I have all their albums and would recommend Everything’s Alright Forever, Learning to Walk and Giant Steps. They became less shoegaze after that.
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Everything’s Alright Forever is probably my favourite shoegaze record… Just curious, how would you describe it if not shoegaze?
Since the usuals have been repeated, it bears repeating how instrumental AR Kane was in establishing shoegaze
(1986)
(1987; produced by Guthrie)
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This thread seems like it came right out of Denton TX in 95