Understanding the marriage of shoegaze and hardcore
At the start of the last decade, something remarkable happened. A shoegaze revival sprang up from the underground, but this time, it was more full-bodied than it had been during its heyday in the early 1990s. A new crop of groups emerged with a fresh sound, re-energising the form with a distinctly hardcore undercurrent. Pushed by bands such as Whirr, Nothing, Title Fight, Basement, and even the so-called blackgaze stalwarts Deafheaven, shoegaze reared its head once more.
In moments, this new style is more visceral – both sonically and emotionally – than it was during its early years, finding love with a generation brought up post-9/11, the 2008 financial crash, and the proliferation of the internet. Not only were these groups mainstream popular, but it also saw a resurgence in interest in pioneers such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Slowdive, and was no doubt helped by the former releasing their first album in 22 years in 2013 – m b v – and the following duo of Thames Valley groups reuniting to much fanfare.
So how did shoegaze and hardcore become married to one another? Firstly, outside of the genre’s most important pioneers, a handful of incredibly influential groups in the 1990s utilised textures fitting the tag to find love with the underground and broader ‘hardcore’ scene. In the early days, the likes of Swirlies and Drop Nineteens were always classed as shoegaze but were perhaps more fitting of the alternative bracket, and it is through this middle ground that shoegaze and hardcore came together.
Outside of these is the consequential Illinois group Hum. Laying own hard, chugging riffs related to groove metal on their 1991 debut Fillet Show and 1993 follow-up Electra 2000, they then refined their formula into a more pulsating sonic palette that included heavier use of FX inextricable from shoegaze such as chorus, delay and fuzz. Across their arc in the decade, the quartet fused their more punishing inclinations with increasingly cerebral shoegaze and post-rock flavours on 1995’s If You’d Prefer An Astronaut – their most commercially successful effort – and 1998’s Downwards in Heavenwards. These two cult records would permeate the underground and become cornerstones of general alternative fandom.
It’s indicative of their reach in the alternative community that Deftones frontman Chino Moreno outlined their influence on his band during an interview with The Quietus in 2010 whilst also unwittingly characterising the blend of shoegaze and hardcore that would emerge that year. Moreno said of If You’d Prefer An Astronaut: “This is a heavy record, and it’s where Deftones get a big part of our influence from, tone-wise. There are these huge chords going on, a huge backbeat, rolling basslines going on underneath, a lot of that has directly inspired certain songs. There’s a wall of sound guitar, it’s heavy and even bombastic in a way, but it’s produced very well”.
He continued: “I think the vocals are an acquired taste, he didn’t have the best singing voice and he talk-sings, but the lyrics are very scientific, he sings about the stars and astrophysics, really odd topics, but the songs are really warm, there’s a romantic vibe there as well. I knew I had to pick some records that inspired us that were older records, and this is one – I listen to this now and it’s stood the test of time, and Deftones were definitely influenced by it”.
Deftones took the baton from Hum and ran off into the sunset with the blueprint. The Sacramento band’s distinctly genre-transcending style had a significant hand in shoegaze, hardcore and other heavy forms converging.
Whether it be the atmospheric junctures of their 1997 album Around the Fur, such as the indomitable, chorus heavy ‘Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)’, the dark, cerebral soundscapes comprising their 2000 masterpiece White Pony, or even the wall of sound of ‘Minerva’ from 2003’s Deftones – a piece with its roots in Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine – the intersection that Deftones made between light and dark, and their tremendous success went a great way in bridging the gap. Both indie heads and heavy music fans love them, which is undeniably fascinating. After all, shoegaze in its original guise always had a gothic and somewhat heavy edge – even if not outwardly regarding the latter element – and it was through this door that the likes of Hum and Deftones introduced the two genres.
From there, both Whirr and Nothing formed in 2010 on the west and east coasts of the US, respectively. The former released a pair of demos that year and, in 2012, arrived with their long-awaited debut, Sway, after rising to prominence through live shows and the internet. As for Nothing, they released a string of EPs in 2011 and 2012 and also made waves in the underground. Much of their connection to the hardcore scene is direct, with frontman and guitarist Dominic Palermo previously a member of the short-lived hardcore outfit Horror Show, who released a pair of EPs through Converge frontman Jacob Bannon’s label Deathwish Inc.
Both bands are inextricably linked. Whilst Whirr might be considered a more traditional shoegazing outfit with gothic reverb and introspective lyrics similar to facets of early Slowdive, they have a heavy undercurrent featuring thick bass and thunderous drums, which marks a distinction. Drawing on familiar elements from alternative rock and hardcore, Whirr proved to be the separate side to the coin for Nothing during the first half of the 2010s. Both bands toured together, and in 2014, they released the Whirr / Nothing split EP on Run for Cover, a label home to many acts associated with the marriage, and it remains one of its highlights.
Featuring the Whirr track ‘Ease’ and one of Nothing’s best pieces in ‘July the Fourth’, the EP remains something of a cult release. As far as examples of shoegaze and hardcore’s marriage, ‘July the Fourth’ is one of the best. The verse’s dynamic, punky chord progression is counterbalanced by a mesmeric chorus wherein the melismatic vocal melody connects with the sliding guitar line before building up into a brief but piercing climax in the end, where swirling textures lift you into a shoegaze dreamland.
Shortly after establishing their creative connection, both bands toured with each other in the spring of 2013, which led to Bassett and Palermo collaborating on the goth-oriented side project Death of Lovers, and then Bassett playing bass in Nothing from 2013 to 2018.
Bassett has been instrumental in shoegaze and hardcore intersecting, with him also playing guitar in blackgaze heroes Deafheaven between 2010 and 2012, including on their 2011 debut album Roads to Judah. The San Francisco group remain another outfit that has had a defining impact on the ethereal side of shoegaze, combining much harder music. They’ve also been a reasonably controversial act for doing so, but in my eyes, their albums Sunbather, New Bermuda, and Ordinary Corrupt Human Love are all masterpieces. Whilst not hardcore, each record still had a significant hand in bridging the gap between indies and metalheads in the early 2010s.
Two other acts that had a tremendous impact are Title Fight and Basement. The now-defunct Title Fight has three albums to their name: 2011’s Shed, 2012’s Floral Green and 2015’s Hyperview. In their time, they moved from a more rigid – but influential – blend of melodic hardcore, punk and emo on tracks such as ‘Symmetry’ and the album Shed to a shoegaze and post-rock leaning sound on their last two efforts, with the likes of ‘Chlorine’ and ‘Head in the Ceiling Fan’ – the two standouts from Hyperview in view of this characterisation.
Regarding the latter piece, harmonious introspective vocals and a slow, bending riff envelop each other in another stellar example of the elements of shoegaze and hardcore converging. The stylistic similarities might be more tenuous than other examples found here, but Title Fight were hugely impactful in their time, with much of this coming via their attitude. Arguably, they had the greatest impact on this musical occurrence outside of the aforementioned 1990s bands.
As for the English outfit Basement, they’ve had four albums and two hiatuses so far, and they also went some way in breaking down the barriers of the hardcore scene. Their 2012 album, Colourmeinkindness, arrived on Run for Cover, and notably, after they toured it, they went on hiatus. Alongside Title Fight during this period, whilst ostensibly belonging to the hardcore scene, Basement looked further afield. The quintet have since developed an inescapable alternative rock and grunge angle in their time, and whilst not shoegaze, their appeal extends far outside of the scene that once claimed them as its own.
Following on from these, other bands such as Superheaven, Narrow Head, Teenage Wrist, Cloakroom (whose frontman/guitarist Doyle Martin now plays guitar in Nothing), Ovlov, and Modern Colour, are just some of those that are carrying the baton, toying with a blend of shoegaze and hardcore, or broader heavier music. As for Narrow Head, if you listen to the recent single ‘Gearhead’, it’s clear that they take many of their cues from Hum and Deftones. The main riff is straight from Around the Fur.
The convergence of shoegaze and heavier music was part of a much broader cultural trend that was already long in motion when it emerged. Old tags and genres became obsolete as we moved into the postmodern age. Those born after Generation X were and are limited by barriers in life, whether it economics, gender, race, sexuality or otherwise, and they weren’t going to let traditional artistic mores stop them from creating art appealing to lived experiences, as life is an inherently mixed bag.
Accordingly, aided by the endless information on the internet, people started cherrypicking from across the cultural landscape to create art. Genres and subcultures as we knew them died as a result, and we’re better off for it. We’re now in a more fluid place where different groups collide and get results such as the shoegaze and hardcore marriage.
