The bands that built Kazu Makino’s artistry
Blonde Redhead are one of the more underappreciated staples of shoegaze. The dreamy indie rockers are most well-known for their 2000 track ‘For the Damaged Coda’, a gorgeous piece of music that unfortunately only reached wider audiences through its inclusion in Rick and Morty. But those who have delved further into their discography will know that their music deserves far more attention than internet edits.
For the past three decades, the New York-born band have delivered dream-pop in abundance, ventured into Lucy Dacus-approved noise rock, and, most recently, provided tender musings on sitting down for dinner. Though they flit between denser shoegaze and lighter dream-pop, it’s clear that Blonde Redhead have a firm grip on their artistry, one vocalist Kazu Makino developed upon her move to New York in her 20s.
After growing up on classical music, Makino was introduced to an entirely new world, or wall, of noise when she relocated to the Big Apple. “I was listening to so many different things during this New York period until I hit a wall of noise sound,” Makino recalled during a conversation with Pitchfork, “It was Lush and My Bloody Valentine.”
Makino began to favour shoegaze over symphonies and picked out Loveless as the record that defined her 25th year. She went on to explain how her experience of listening to those shoegaze giants like Lush and My Bloody Valentine cemented her understanding of her own artistry.
“I went to those shows and I just remember falling apart every time,” she recalled, “Like, ‘Oh my god, this is what I want to do. I want this noise.’ Hearing them, my spectrum of who I am as an artist was complete. Blues and noise – that mix built who I am as an artist.”
Makino found that she didn’t identify with the indie rock alternative at the time – the grungier, grittier stylings of Sonic Youth and Nirvana. “Indie rock, especially at the time I started, had My Bloody Valentine and Lush on one side, and the other side had Sonic Youth, Beck, Nirvana, bands I loved but definitely didn’t identify with,” she explained.
She was much more drawn to that “wall of sound, which people call shoegaze”, finding a sense of belonging there that she didn’t find elsewhere. It was certainly the right direction for her to take, as she would go on to deliver some of the most beautiful entries into the shoegaze and dream-pop spheres with Blonde Redhead. Glimpses of Makino’s earlier influences can certainly be found in her own creations.
The band have never quite achieved the same status as their predecessors like My Bloody Valentine and Lush, though their music is no less interesting or innovative. Blonde Redhead remain one of the most underrated bands in that sphere, but to those in the know, there’s no doubt that they belong in it, that Makino has mastered that wall of sound.
