In the late 80s and early 90s, shoegaze formed in the UK. Often associated with dream pop, shoegaze bands used atmospheric guitar effects with feedback and heavy delay to create a wall of sound, with ethereal vocals on top. This style grew popular in the UK in the early 90s, and its influence carried over into the US. These 3 alternative rock songs from the 90s were influenced by shoegaze bands.
“Milk It” By Nirvana
Nirvana incorporated elements of shoegaze throughout their three albums. You can hear this on “Milk It” from the band’s third album, In Utero. The track features heavily distorted guitar that creates the wall-of-sound effect associated with shoegaze. In Kurt Cobain’s journals, he expressed interest in The Jesus And Mary Chain’s production quality and also mentioned My Bloody Valentine. Members of My Bloody Valentine later praised Cobain’s songwriting. Nirvana’s final studio recording in 1994, “You Know You’re Right”, also contained shoegaze guitar techniques and song structure. The song was later released in 2002, posthumously.
“Drown” By The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins also incorporated shoegaze influence, specifically in the band’s earlier work. Following their debut album, Gish, Billy Corgan penned the song “Drown”. It appeared on the soundtrack for the film Singles but was not released as a commercial single. Instead, “Nearly Lost You” was the next single released from the soundtrack. Corgan later expressed that he pushed for the song to be the next single. Nonetheless, The Smashing Pumpkins released the track as a promotional single, and it went to No. 24 on the Alternative Songs chart. The track brought significant attention to the band ahead of their sophomore album, Siamese Dream.
“Planet Telex” By Radiohead
Coming from England themselves, Radiohead couldn’t help but carry over shoegaze influence. The opening track of their widely acclaimed sophomore album, The Bends, starts the band off with shoegaze influence. Not only did their guitar work incorporate shoegaze elements, but the band itself expanded on shoegaze throughout the late 90s and into the 2000s. In a way, Radiohead became the next step beyond shoegaze, taking art rock into new territory throughout the 2000s. In their early years, the band often shared local studios and gear setups with pioneering shoegaze band Slowdive.
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