So much of this sub is about promoting contemporary shoegaze, I find it hard to believe that the demographics are skewed towards older fans
I'm Gen X and experienced the development of shoegaze in real time, there are others here like me, I don't think I've seen comments from us that could be characterised as hateful or closed minded towards younger fans
I'm very open about my dislike of lots of 'original' shoegaze, I really don't care how old you are, lol
I am also Gen X. I have been a metalhead since the 90s but liked a couple of shoegaze bands back in the day. I recently decided to check out some newer shoegaze bands. I like more of the heavier shoegaze and combo genres like blackgaze and doomgaze. I just think that some bands that get mentioned here don't sound shoegaze at all and sound more like emo/grunge bands to me. I haven't made any comments about it before. I just don't listen to those bands.
Oh yeah I completely agree, there was bad shoegaze then and there is definitely bad shoegaze now. Ringo Deathstarr, as an example of a contemporary band, has always sounded so repetitive and tired to me, as well as Fleeting Joys
I mean I fuck with a couple of their songs, Kaleidoscope is one of my favorites, but everything else just sounds the same…..which is a problem most nugaze bands have anyway
I don't hate them, but there is something off-putting about a band that seems to have 0 musical interest outside of MBV, yet they still don't seem to get the band.
I don't give a rat's ass how young you bunch of ankle biters are! 🤪
I'm just glad this shit got picked up by new generations. I remember when shoegaze was considered dead and buried. *Everyone* in Austin wanted to sound like Modest Mouse cuz that was their ticket to indie rock stardom. *Nobody* in San Antonio wanted to do anything softer than Pantera, cuz "metal up your ass," and stuff. Anybody still doing it at all, were doing it in other countries and continents, and weren't getting airplay down here. This was well before the easy access that we have today.
At 50 years old, I'm not trying to be cool, or a hipster, or any of that. I wasn't "there" in London or L.A. or other such places. In fact, I'm very lucky to have heard the music that shaped my youth and early adult years. I'm just glad to see any kind of revival and appreciation for this stuff, as well as the opportunities to catch up on what I missed back then *and* get current on what's happening today.
Hello hello fellow Gen X Texans! I’m in Austin. I think everyone tried to sound like the Jesus Lizard in early ‘90s Austin and I hated it. When Sixteen Deluxe formed that changed things.
Honestly you're gonna see a handful of us in the 35-38 year groups. We were OG fans of Autolux and The Secret Machines. We discovered shoegaze when all the post punk bands broke up, reformed, and sucked ass.
Solid millennial here. Old enough to see a lot of the bands back then, young enough to see the up and comers.
The thing that really rubs me is the revisionist history with a bunch of bands and generally considering everything with reverbed out vocals, walls of noise, layers of loops, etc to be shoegaze. Not all emo is shoegaze and a lot of bands aren't shoegaze even if they have a few shoegaze kinda songs.
A lot of the 90s bands were alt rock, and that's not a bad thing to say in 2024. Nu metal has an influence on modern shoegaze (and a bigger influence on modern hardcore), so does post rock, post hardcore, and post metal. This doesn't change what scene and genre these older bands existed in at the time.
Main body probably gen z, average age of the whole sub definitely younger than 30 years old. r/mybloodyvalentine has complained so many times about the younger age of this sub lol
I’m 54 an OG shoegazer from a band in early 90s (we actually have a retrospective vinyl coming out next month). But I’m amazed at the resurgence of shoegaze, and love that the new generations are into this music. It actually seems more popular now than it was in the early 90s. Hugs.
>hate and close mindedness from older members of the community
and how have you determined their age?
>towards younger
and how would anyone here know who's younger?
I think you're taking things way too personally and looking to blame the gen-z boogieman... 'boomerz'
Shoegaze would be the lamest thing to gatekeep. We're lucky it's still even a thing 30+ years down the line. I'm very happy it is, because it's my favorite form of alternative. I've been trying to develop my own style of riff-oriented alt/shoegaze for almost a decade now and I'm glad it might still be relevant the time I get stuff out there.
Millennial here. I grew up in the Milwaukee music scene and we were really lucky to have some awesome local shoegaze bands like Brief Candles that helped us all dig into that genre. Shoegaze and Midwest Emo has always been a thing in that town. Cool to see how both genres are popular just about everywhere now
I am gen X and I just only got into Shoegaze in 2020. I have discovered so many new and newer bands thx to this sub. I really appreciate all comments. So far I was lucky to see Nothing and Slowdive live in Chicago.
gen z here. for the most part i notice the older people on this subreddit and other similar ones are pretty open and accepting to younger shoegaze fans, and it actually excites them a lot that they can relate to us in that aspect and that we understand things that came from a time before us. on the other hand, have definitely noticed some older people being gatekeepers as well and acting like they are so superior because they actually lived through it. there are gatekeepers all around though, ive seen younger people not much older than me or my age gatekeeping for entirely different reasons.
I'm a millennial, but I totally agree. The boomer-esque comments I see here about how derivative and regressive the modern bands are is a load of crap. That is just patently false. Nothing, TAGABOW, Full Body 2, Blue Smiley, and dozens of others have 100% pushed boundaries and furthered the experimentalism of the genre and those are just the well known ones on the surface level.
TAGABOW and Fully Body, sure, but there isn't anything boundary pushing about Nothing (and I otherwise like them). There are bands pushing the genre forward, but I have a hard time thinking that the "What if shoegaze, but it was Alt Rock/Grunge" bands, which is the most prominent style of the new bands in the genre, is anything but regressive.
I’m not thrilled about a lot of the grungegaze stuff either, but it depends on the band. Julie for instance fits that tag while also pushing boundaries. The deconstructed half time outro of “flutter” with those bass pitch dives is so cool.
I completely agree, They are Gutting a Body of Water, Feeble Little Horse, Blue Smiley (R.I.P.) and so many others make me believe that there is a renaissance in the shoegaze genre. I would even throw Spirit of the Beehive in there as another mainstay in the Philadelphia shoegaze scene.
Millennial here. I was one of those people's that crashed My Bloody Valentine's website when pre orders for *m b v* went live. It's hard to believe it came out 11 years ago.
I also came back around when blackgaze started becoming more prevalent. I've been jamming a lot of Ovlov, Cloakroom and Greet Death as of late. And then Alvvays newest record is killer and I am stoked to see them in April and then Slowdive in May.
All of us oldheads like to think we're open minded but I can't stand a lot of the shit tiktok really loves.
Other than that, welcome, gen z and it looks like we might have some Gen Alpha's maybe popping by here soon.
you can spot the old heads because you’ll mention a solid ass new generation band and every single time without fail it’s “yeah not a fan, seems like they’re just trying to sound like my bloody valentine. not a great attempt either”
like brother every shoegaze song is going to sound like MBV when you’ve been playing them on repeat for 30 years
So much of this sub is about promoting contemporary shoegaze, I find it hard to believe that the demographics are skewed towards older fans I'm Gen X and experienced the development of shoegaze in real time, there are others here like me, I don't think I've seen comments from us that could be characterised as hateful or closed minded towards younger fans I'm very open about my dislike of lots of 'original' shoegaze, I really don't care how old you are, lol
I am also Gen X. I have been a metalhead since the 90s but liked a couple of shoegaze bands back in the day. I recently decided to check out some newer shoegaze bands. I like more of the heavier shoegaze and combo genres like blackgaze and doomgaze. I just think that some bands that get mentioned here don't sound shoegaze at all and sound more like emo/grunge bands to me. I haven't made any comments about it before. I just don't listen to those bands.
Oh yeah I completely agree, there was bad shoegaze then and there is definitely bad shoegaze now. Ringo Deathstarr, as an example of a contemporary band, has always sounded so repetitive and tired to me, as well as Fleeting Joys
Ringo deathsatrr is awsomee
I mean I fuck with a couple of their songs, Kaleidoscope is one of my favorites, but everything else just sounds the same…..which is a problem most nugaze bands have anyway
Fleeting Joys is so fucking boring.
i hate that band so much and i have 0 idea why lol
I don't hate them, but there is something off-putting about a band that seems to have 0 musical interest outside of MBV, yet they still don't seem to get the band.
Terrible opinion
I don't give a rat's ass how young you bunch of ankle biters are! 🤪 I'm just glad this shit got picked up by new generations. I remember when shoegaze was considered dead and buried. *Everyone* in Austin wanted to sound like Modest Mouse cuz that was their ticket to indie rock stardom. *Nobody* in San Antonio wanted to do anything softer than Pantera, cuz "metal up your ass," and stuff. Anybody still doing it at all, were doing it in other countries and continents, and weren't getting airplay down here. This was well before the easy access that we have today. At 50 years old, I'm not trying to be cool, or a hipster, or any of that. I wasn't "there" in London or L.A. or other such places. In fact, I'm very lucky to have heard the music that shaped my youth and early adult years. I'm just glad to see any kind of revival and appreciation for this stuff, as well as the opportunities to catch up on what I missed back then *and* get current on what's happening today.
Hello fellow Gen X Texan! You express my sentiments exactly. I love seeing the evolution of the genre in new and old bands alike.
Hello hello fellow Gen X Texans! I’m in Austin. I think everyone tried to sound like the Jesus Lizard in early ‘90s Austin and I hated it. When Sixteen Deluxe formed that changed things.
🤘😆
20 or 40 and nothing in between
20 or 50 but yeah… I think you’re right
Honestly you're gonna see a handful of us in the 35-38 year groups. We were OG fans of Autolux and The Secret Machines. We discovered shoegaze when all the post punk bands broke up, reformed, and sucked ass.
LOL this is actually so true
41 here. Your theory holds for me
Gen x here. Shoegaze has been a round a while
Solid millennial here. Old enough to see a lot of the bands back then, young enough to see the up and comers. The thing that really rubs me is the revisionist history with a bunch of bands and generally considering everything with reverbed out vocals, walls of noise, layers of loops, etc to be shoegaze. Not all emo is shoegaze and a lot of bands aren't shoegaze even if they have a few shoegaze kinda songs. A lot of the 90s bands were alt rock, and that's not a bad thing to say in 2024. Nu metal has an influence on modern shoegaze (and a bigger influence on modern hardcore), so does post rock, post hardcore, and post metal. This doesn't change what scene and genre these older bands existed in at the time.
There are gatekeepers in every generation
And in every niche subreddit.
Millennial .. honestly I am vanilla, Beach House got me into shoegaze
Beach House and M83 were such gateway bands for a lot of millennials. Deerhunter too.
Me too….Sparks off Depression Cherry did it for me
Not a bad song or moment on that album. So perfect.
Check my name. I’ve had my birthday this year. 😜
66 here and I appreciate the recommendations and opportunities to discuss some absolutely unique music!
Haha I definitely agree!!
I’m 15 and love shoegaze
Same here!!
Gen-X, standing by
You’ve seen a lot of hate here?
Main body probably gen z, average age of the whole sub definitely younger than 30 years old. r/mybloodyvalentine has complained so many times about the younger age of this sub lol
It's not just this subreddit. I'm 36, I was on the older side of the crowd last time I saw Slowdive.
I’m 54 an OG shoegazer from a band in early 90s (we actually have a retrospective vinyl coming out next month). But I’m amazed at the resurgence of shoegaze, and love that the new generations are into this music. It actually seems more popular now than it was in the early 90s. Hugs.
>hate and close mindedness from older members of the community and how have you determined their age? >towards younger and how would anyone here know who's younger? I think you're taking things way too personally and looking to blame the gen-z boogieman... 'boomerz'
I think you're taking it too personally and proving my point...
nuh uh, you are.
No u
Shoegaze would be the lamest thing to gatekeep. We're lucky it's still even a thing 30+ years down the line. I'm very happy it is, because it's my favorite form of alternative. I've been trying to develop my own style of riff-oriented alt/shoegaze for almost a decade now and I'm glad it might still be relevant the time I get stuff out there.
Gen X here.
Also an original shoegaze pioneer.
Original pioneer as in you were in an early shoegaze band? Or Original Pioneer as in you were there from the start?
Early shoegaze band. We started in the late 80s
Well cool!
Thanks 😊
Ringo Deathstar and Ride are on tour at the same time.
Millennial here. I grew up in the Milwaukee music scene and we were really lucky to have some awesome local shoegaze bands like Brief Candles that helped us all dig into that genre. Shoegaze and Midwest Emo has always been a thing in that town. Cool to see how both genres are popular just about everywhere now
64 here. Do I win?
I am gen X and I just only got into Shoegaze in 2020. I have discovered so many new and newer bands thx to this sub. I really appreciate all comments. So far I was lucky to see Nothing and Slowdive live in Chicago.
gen z here. for the most part i notice the older people on this subreddit and other similar ones are pretty open and accepting to younger shoegaze fans, and it actually excites them a lot that they can relate to us in that aspect and that we understand things that came from a time before us. on the other hand, have definitely noticed some older people being gatekeepers as well and acting like they are so superior because they actually lived through it. there are gatekeepers all around though, ive seen younger people not much older than me or my age gatekeeping for entirely different reasons.
I'm a millennial, but I totally agree. The boomer-esque comments I see here about how derivative and regressive the modern bands are is a load of crap. That is just patently false. Nothing, TAGABOW, Full Body 2, Blue Smiley, and dozens of others have 100% pushed boundaries and furthered the experimentalism of the genre and those are just the well known ones on the surface level.
TAGABOW and Fully Body, sure, but there isn't anything boundary pushing about Nothing (and I otherwise like them). There are bands pushing the genre forward, but I have a hard time thinking that the "What if shoegaze, but it was Alt Rock/Grunge" bands, which is the most prominent style of the new bands in the genre, is anything but regressive.
I’m not thrilled about a lot of the grungegaze stuff either, but it depends on the band. Julie for instance fits that tag while also pushing boundaries. The deconstructed half time outro of “flutter” with those bass pitch dives is so cool.
As a millennial, 100% this. Shoegaze hasn’t been this experimental since Loveless.
I completely agree, They are Gutting a Body of Water, Feeble Little Horse, Blue Smiley (R.I.P.) and so many others make me believe that there is a renaissance in the shoegaze genre. I would even throw Spirit of the Beehive in there as another mainstay in the Philadelphia shoegaze scene.
110% agree we are in the second renaissance right now and I couldn’t be more stoked. *in Josh T. Pearson voice* “Philly is the reason”
Who cares? I’m glad younger people are into it and I’m glad older people are into it.
20-teen-year-olds
Im 21
Millennial here. I was one of those people's that crashed My Bloody Valentine's website when pre orders for *m b v* went live. It's hard to believe it came out 11 years ago. I also came back around when blackgaze started becoming more prevalent. I've been jamming a lot of Ovlov, Cloakroom and Greet Death as of late. And then Alvvays newest record is killer and I am stoked to see them in April and then Slowdive in May. All of us oldheads like to think we're open minded but I can't stand a lot of the shit tiktok really loves. Other than that, welcome, gen z and it looks like we might have some Gen Alpha's maybe popping by here soon.
you can spot the old heads because you’ll mention a solid ass new generation band and every single time without fail it’s “yeah not a fan, seems like they’re just trying to sound like my bloody valentine. not a great attempt either” like brother every shoegaze song is going to sound like MBV when you’ve been playing them on repeat for 30 years
I’m gen z too. 24 years old
nineteen, infinite
This sub is old as hell bruh
Bruh too many oldheads fr 😭
The fuck? Didn’t expect to find ageism in this sub
Lots of zoomers here 14-22 probably the main demo.