Deafheaven - Sunbather (2013)

Genre: Black Metal/Shoegaze/Screamo
Country: United States

 The opening of "The Pecan Tree" leaves me in awe every time I listen to it. The best way it can be described, is a violent euphoria. I can feel it throughout my body; the tingling of my skin, the breathlessness in my chest. I get lost. Lost in the shuddering guitars, the warm smile of the melodies. Lost in a place only Deafheaven can take me. For thirteen minutes, I'm outside of myself, wandering dandelion-filled fields on the most beautiful day spring can offer. That's why I love Deafheaven; that's why I love Sunbather.

It's an album full of these kind of moments. When I listen to the title track, I want nothing more than to lay my head on a tree, and watch as the branches sway back and forth, sunlight piercing through the leafy canvas. For a song that is just as rooted in black metal as it is shoegaze, it is, at times, surprisingly laid back. Sure, there are moments of harshness - halfway through the song its weightless shoegazing melodies fall out of the sky into a pit of cacophonous blastbeat driven black metal - but here, even the cruelty of BM can't stop the album's ecstatic beauty from eventually shining through once more. "Dream House" and "Vertigo" offer more the same; jet-black walls of noise, painted with brushstrokes of shimmering guitars, both dark and beautiful. It's an album that thrives on contrasts.

Deafheaven have crafted a record that shares their inspirations and aspirations all at once. You'll get a pangs of My Blood Valentine and hints of Weakling all within the same breadth; it's a collage of influences that adds up to be a sum greater than its parts. With that in mind, I come back to "The Pecan Tree". That violent euphoria encapsulates the spirit of the band like no other track on Sunbather.  It's lush and gorgeous like shoegaze, grandiose and aggressive like black metal, and sincere like screamo; yet, it is none of these things. It's immediately recognizable and completely unmistakable  -that's why it's the perfect closer. As the album fades into blissful obscurity, it gently whispers three words into your ear; "This is Deafheaven."

Dream On

Fleeting Joys - Despondent Transponder (2006)

Genre: Shoegaze
Country: United States

This band doesn't hide the fact that they really enjoy listening to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and it's probably one of the few albums that can do the sound justice. The male/female vocal dynamic with poppy melodies is present and the guitar tone is lush as you would expect from the genre. Nothing ever comes across as difficult to listen to nor does it cross any boundaries for the genre but it's good for what it is, MBV worship aside.

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Pinkshinyultrablast - Everything Else Matters (2015)

Genre: Shoegaze
Country: Russia

Six years of waiting since their EP back in 2009 was certainly well worth the wait. They really evolved and developed their sound into something more vibrant and punchy here. Perhaps you even could say that it has the best rhythm section of any shoegaze album in the past ten years. Shoegaze has the reputation of sounding contemplative and build an atmosphere that just meanders but this album just sounds like they really want to burst and explode. In all honesty, nothing completely new here is done, rather, everything just feels fresh and is well executed. If you're fan of all the shoegaze revival that's becoming more apparent, there's no better time to hop on.

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Swan Dive - Fly Towards the Sun (2013)

Genre: Shoegaze, Punk Rock
Country: United States/United Kingdom

So Brandon Setta of shoegaze band Nothing and Joey Bayes of melodic hardcore band More Than Life got together and wrote some grungy, punky, shoegaze songs back in 2013. Expect something akin to Nothing rather than More Than Life, especially to songs on the Whirr/Nothing split. It kinda sounds like something that would be written in the 90s but by no means is it a poor form of worship from bands in that era. Reverberated vocals are still in play, a hint of angst and melancholy maybe, and some basic elements from shoegaze can be found. If you like Nothing at all, you'll probably find some enjoyment in this.

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Kairon; IRSE! - Ujubasajuba (2014)

Genre: Shoegaze, Post-Rock
Country: Finland

If you've been on the front page of RYM in the past month or so, you've probably seen a review for this with the caption "BRUTAL POST ROCK" (the author changed it unfortunately). I was pretty hesitant to listen to it considering the cover is mildly unappealing but I gave it a shot anyway since my friend recommended it to me. I think the best way to describe this album is saying that it's essentially a post rock album with progressive leanings with shoegaze production. Kairon; IRSE! don't get lost in forming a huge wall of sound that many shoegaze bands tend to fall under. Rather, they really like to add riffs and solos to support that wall of sound to engage the listener which is how the separate themselves from all the other bands in the scene currently. Even if you're not a fan of shoegaze, there are other characteristics that you can latch onto to and find enjoyment out of it. It's possibly the best album on Bandcamp that's name-your-price as well so get listening!

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Whirr - Pipe Dreams (Redux) (2014)

Genre: Shoegaze

Country: United States

Nothing too different from this and the original version but I think that the slight differences make a noticeable difference. There's no annoying hissing sound like in the buildup to "Wait" and the in "Reverse". The guitars seems a bit louder which helps bring out the vocals drowned in reverb. The most important difference is definitely the tracklist. Reverie serves as an interlude between "Bogus" and "Wait" which actually sounds better in execution than in theory while "Hide" becomes the closer. There seems to be a better balance between the faster and more energetic songs with the moodier songs on both ends of this album which works in its favour since I though Pipe Dreams was a little bit all over the place. Either way, both versions are solid but I think it's best to go with the redux over the original.

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Planning For Burial - Desideratum (2014)

Genre: Drone, Shoegaze
Country: United States

Planning For Burial subdues the more metal aspects of his music from his debut Leaving back in 2009 in exchange for more emotive and soft drone-y shoegaze. This allows for a more focused listen rather than the all over place sound akin to his debut which was good regardless. The drone here is really engaging here despite how slow-paced the music here is. It really feels like being absorbed into nothingness which is most likely what Planning For Burial is going for.

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Procession - Your Turn To Feel (2012)

Genre: Shoegaze
Country: United States

Procession is a side project from vocalist/guitarist Britty Drake from Pity Sex. It's not too far from Dark World-era Pity Sex sound-wise. All it really lacks is the strong emo influences. Procession seems to work based on making gritty and lo-fi sounds sound like comforting and soft with jangly guitar lines and a mix between clean and distorted guitar chords rather searching for emotional climaxes like Pity Sex. Nothing too different for the genre, but it's definitely executed well. I guess if you wanted Britty to sing more in Dark World she would've sounded like this.

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Manon Meurt - Manon Meurt (2014)

Genre: Shoegaze, Dream Pop
Country: Czech Republic

This is incredibly standard for shoegaze in terms of sound and songwriting but the same can be said for a lot of album in the entire genre so it would be unfair to write it off as so. Manon Meurt basically sound like Slowdive that try to emphasize on building a wall of sound instead of creating the floating feeling that Slowdive emulates in Souvlaki. Don't write this off as a rip-off but rather appreciate the fact that Manon Meurt mimic this style well and sort of make it their own.

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Miserable - Halloween Dream (2014)

Genre: Shoegaze
Country: United States

If you feel disappointed with the Camera Shy EP because former vocalist Kristina Esfandiari of Whirr sounds a little weak and wish to hear her in a similar as she was in Whirr, then you should check out her solo work under the moniker of Miserable. She approaches shoegaze with dark and depressing sounds and textures while still maintaining a catchy sound and sounding ethereal.

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Death of Lovers - Buried Under A World Of Roses (2014)

Genre: Post-Punk, Shoegaze
Country: United States

Death of Lovers is made up of members of Whirr and Nothing. The influence from the two bands' sounds aren't completely prevalent save for a couple of parts in some songs. The cold and depressive kind of post-punk sound is what really shines here and is certainly well executed. Taking influence from older post-punk bands and adding a dash from their other bands' sounds, Death of Lovers form a cold and haunting sound using spacey synths, baritone to whisper-y vocals, bumping basslines, clean guitar picking and strumming, and tight drum playing.

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Sweet Trip - Velocity : Design : Comfort (2003)

Genre: IDM, Glitch Pop, Shoegaze
Country: United States

Mixing two genres that really don't have anything in common often gives mixed results. On this album though, shoegaze and IDM work together to provide a unique experience where the human and intimate nature of shoegaze blends with the souless computer personality. Soft pop melodies are buried underneath the glitch-y sounds to give that souless nature some human qualities which ultimately is what the album alludes to.

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XO - Heart (2014)

Genre: Shoegaze, Surf Rock
Country: United States

The two brothers of Say Anything prove that Max Bemis isn't the only one capable of crafting a fantastic album though they never quite reach his peak. At least this is better than Bemis' recent work in terms of quality. Don't go into this expecting a Say Anything clone because it's something completely different. What is given here is a lo-fi, surf rock shoegaze (surfgaze perhaps?) album with the more dream pop aspects of shoegaze. It kind of sounds like a really comfy day at the beach with a special someone.

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Ghastly City Sleep - Ghastly City Sleep (2007)

Genre: Post-Rock, Shoegaze, Dream Pop
Country: United States

Ghastly City Sleep is basically a supergroup made up of members from City of Caterpillar, Majority Rule, and Gregor Samsa. Plenty is Godspeed You! Black Emperor worship can still be found here thanks to the members of CoC. Think all the post rock parts of City of Caterpillar except they sound prettier and they have dream pop vocals instead of screams and you got this album. This also features Mia Matsumiya playing violin and doing vocals on the first track so that song is at least worth listening to.

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Cloakroom - Infinity (2013)

Genre: Shoegaze/Emo
Country: United States

Emo-tinged shoegaze with an overload of fuzz creating an incredibly heavy and dirty wall of sound somewhat reminiscent to doom/stoner metal bands with beautiful and melancholic passages thrown into the mix. Clocking in almost thirty minutes, Infinity is definitely not worth missing out on.

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Kinoko Teikoku - Uzu Ni Naru (2012)

Genre: Indie Rock
Country: Japan

Kinoko Teikoku play indie rock that is often mixed with post rock and shoegaze elements that really gives you a floating and dreamy feeling, especially the first two tracks. The vocals trade backs and the harmonies between the main vocalist (who is a fantastic singer) and her bandmates are downright angelic and the instruments play a suitable backdrop for the vocals with twinkly guitars and soaring chord progressions played in moods varying between happy and melancholic. Check this out if you want some of the best indie rock Japan has to offer.

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