Sh!tgaze

[Sneer]

Yes, a ridiculous label i know, but for the sake of this thread it is to be applied. A term coined to categorise an influx of bands that, from the mid-00's, have utlised an extreme, treble-heavy, lo-fi approach, amplifying sound to the absolute maximum and largely neglecting bass, to create an abrasive brand of music that flutters in and around indie-pop, punk, noise rock and even goth. Basically you could say the whole 'shitgaze' movement is based around a production aesthetic as oppose to a specific musical formula. Im sure there are those of you already aware of it so who's your favourite band?

For those not aware, bands coined with the label include:

Wavves
No Age
Times New Viking
Eat Skull
Women
Blank Dogs
*** Cop
Psychedelic Horseshit
Dublin Duck Dispensary
Ex-Cocaine

[simplephysics]

I've only heard material from Wavves, No Age, and Dublin Duck Dispensary, they're all pretty decent but I could live without.

[Sneer]

Ah, check out Psychedelic Horsesh!t, they bring a heavy 60's pop influence to the table, as do Women, whilst Eat Skull and Blank Dogs are darker - the former have a freakbeat meets garage rock thing going on; complete with organ, whilst the latter is goth. They, along with TNV, Wavves, No Age and DDD are the cream of the crop.

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

I like noise rock but most of these bands that I have heard do absolutely nothing for me.

To me it's just bland commercial indie rock with added noise for the sake of adding noise to it & little else.

I can't really explain it, it's almost like these type of bands go into a state of the art studio to record something and do their best to make it sound as crappy & Lo Fi as possible for no other reason than it happens to be fashionable at the moment rather than out of necessity. To me it just makes it sound fake & uninteresting.

[Sneer]

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

I like noise rock but most of these bands that I have heard do absolutely nothing for me.

To me it's just bland commercial indie rock with added noise for the sake of adding noise to it & little else.

I can't really explain it, it's almost like these type of bands go into a state of the art studio to record something and do their best to make it sound as crappy & Lo Fi as possible for no other reason than it happens to be fashionable at the moment rather than out of necessity. To me it just makes it sound fake & uninteresting.

I concur that there are some bands out there that do it for the sole purpose of fitting into a fad and hoping that get swept up in its tails, but there a certain few that genuinely do it either out of necessity or for artistic statement.

Dublin Duck Dispensary, for example, records his albums from his bedroom and releases them through this Dutch label i for one have never heard of before. Whilst bands like Eat Skull, Wavves, TNV and Women are releasing albums on indie labels such as Siltbreeze, Fat Cat, Killertee and Whoodsit records - not exactly rolling in cash

It has gained popularity recently, this is obvious with TNV and No Age releasing their most recent albums on Sub Pop and Matador, quite esteemed labels, but its only indie kid popularity, and albums such as Nouns, Luanqibazao, Women, Magic Flowers Droned, Rip It Off and Wavvves do certainly have some artistic merit to them i think.

[Greydon]

I've only really listened to No Age, Times New Viking, and Wavvves. While I'm not too partial to any, they're tolerable and at times I desire listening to them. Though I don't understand the infatuation with Wavvves as I believe him (them?) to be nothing more than overhyped Pitchfork drab.

Maybe seeing Wavvves live at this year's festival will sway my opinion.

[Farfisa]

I really don't care for any artist labled as shitgaze... I just don't find it very appealing.

[Engine]

In a (sort of depressing) way I was excited when I realized that a revival of early 90s indie rock/shoegaze was going on.
But then I didn't like any of the bands I heard do it. Even bands that may be otherwise good can't seem to do it right. I'm going to go full-on old-guy and say that they don't appear to understand the music that they are copying.

[Sneer]

Originally Posted by GravitySlips

By far my favourite of these bands is the wonderful Eat Skull, imo. I like most of it, I'm getting more and more into it, love the noisy garagey sound.

Times New VIking are awesome live, and their vocalist = cutie! Sic Alps are pretty sweet too.

I only have the Dead Families EP, you got anymore Eat Skull i can gnaw on?

As for all the negativity prevalent in this thread, what i like about'shitgaze' is the nihilism of it. Its quick, trashy and raw as fuck. In my opinion its fun and exciting whilst also cathartic.

[Engine]

Originally Posted by Stu

As for all the negativity prevalent in this thread, what i like about'shitgaze' is the nihilism of it. Its quick, trashy and raw as fuck. In my opinion its fun and exciting whilst also cathartic.

That's cool - I actually envy you - it sounds like you are experiencing what I did when I first heard early Pavement and Royal Trux. I wish I could re-experience that with some new bands, but they always fall short for me and I just get bored.