–Brad NelsonĪs foundational documents of shoegaze, the songs on Gala are pretty key, but they cede to a larger point: Lush were a great band from the start. It’s as if Chrome were imported from another history of alt-rock, one more textured and romantic, where it sits deservedly atop the pile. Every chord on Chrome is a crisp, metallic clang trapped in a halo of hazy and seductive noise, a membrane through which the individual notes branch like nerves.įew rock records sound like this there are only a few songs on Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque and Sugar’s Copper Blue that resemble Chrome’s gentle, blushing form of aggression, which generates songs as harsh and menacing as the title track and songs as celestial and full of dread as “Fripp.” Where many shoegaze bands would resign themselves to 2-3 monochromatic notes, Dickinson’s vocal melodies are dynamic, vivid, and exhibit an astral quality they burn, shimmer, and glow against these songs. It’s a considerably more focused record, both in songwriting and the visibility of its instrumentation Norton sharpens what Ferment intentionally blurred, dragging a whirling shoegaze design around cleaner guitar tones and Rob Dickinson’s honeyed vocals. –Jason Hellerįor their second album, Catherine Wheel hired the Pixies’ and Throwing Muses’ mastermind, Gil Norton, as a producer. With Mezcal Head, Swervedriver brilliantly make the point that shoegaze, despite its name and reputation, doesn’t have to be bashful. That’s not to say the album isn’t capable of dreaminess, as in the delicate touch of “Duress.” Even then, though, Franklin’s vocals stalk the foreground, smooth and clear, with an edge of menace. “Last Train to Satansville” even sports a touch of surf. “Duel” flirts with the alt-rock bounce of Sugar even as it recalls the gargantuan riffage of Isn’t Anything-era My Bloody Valentine. Released in 1993, the record builds on the dynamism and forcefulness of 1991’s Raise frontman Adam Franklin keeps all the velocity and volume, only he spikes things with even greater pop hooks and a more dexterous sense of songwriting. Swervedriver’s sophomore album, Mezcal Head, stands as a testament to the genre’s occasional bursts of hell-raising extroversion. For all its trademark wistfulness and ethereality, shoegaze can rock, too.
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