Shoegaze Facts

Origins and early development

Shoegaze originated in the United Kingdom, particularly in London and the greater Thames Valley region, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Artists associated with the style drew primarily from dream pop band Cocteau Twins and from the sonic template established by My Bloody Valentine on their 1988 EP You Made Me Realise and their debut album Isn't Anything. The term shoegaze was coined by music executive Andy Ross and was applied by the British music press to describe bands' motionless stage presence while they looked down toward their effects pedals.

Evolution or diversification

The genre reached its peak in 1991 with the release of My Bloody Valentine's second album Loveless but was soon overshadowed by the rise of the American grunge scene and the subsequent Britpop movement. In the 2000s and 2010s shoegaze experienced a revival occasionally referred to as nu gaze, during which the offshoot blackgaze emerged and unrelated styles adopted aspects of shoegaze's atmosphere. In the 2020s the revival was spearheaded by Gen Z artists sometimes referred to as zoomergaze.

Cultural or musical significance

Shoegaze is characterised by ethereal soundscapes, obscured vocals, and extensive use of guitar effects and distortion, often producing an immersive wall of sound. The label attracted criticism from musicians and journalists who described it as derisive or a poor umbrella term, and its etymology was linked to descriptions of musicians looking down at their shoes or effects pedals.