Before Loveless: How Shoegaze Became Shoegaze

Emerging in the late 80s, Shoegaze would go on to be one of most essential genres of the last thirty years. It was the moment where punk’s cacophonous noise gave way to a dream-like modern psychedelia. Groups like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Lush, and Slowdive would take hold of its anti-rock sentiment, lust for reverberation and layers and layers of guitar, and create some truly unique music. Though soon overpowered by the more commercially viable Britpop groups, the genre lives on today in a myriad different forms. But how did we get to Shoegaze? And how did we get to the point where My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless was possible? This is how Shoegaze became Shoegaze.