Shoegazer

Tracing its origins to both British and American soil, Shoegazer owes as much to the innovative, guitar-driven thunder of bands such as Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth as it does the lush, crystalline soundscapes of Dream Pop pioneers Cocteau Twins and Brian Eno. Marked with jet-fired guitars, angular rhythms and cooly-intoned vocals, Shoegazer's lush, high-volume aesthetic was to some a more intriguing display of power than its 1980s hair-sprayed Pop Metal alternative. The genre's landmark release, My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, courted the duality perfectly, employing both inordinate amounts of tube-amplified wattage as well as a vast array of effects and samplers. Guitarist Kevin Shields even manipulated his Fender Jazzmaster-the shoegazer's weapon of choice- with an extended whammy bar, enabling him to strum chords as he heightened and lowered the pitch, creating the perception that the music was arbitrarily slowing down and speeding up at the same time. Ride and Swervedriver, both key players and early Noise Pop guitar innovators, relied less on effects, instead using unique guitar tunings and swirling feedback to work their Neo-Psychedelic magic.