I love having lived long enough to see genres rise and fall like waves. They always come back around as the inspiration ripples through another generation. Over the past few years, we dove into the dream pop and shoegaze revivals, and we’re stoked to see how bands are reshaping these genres in their own image and breathing new life into them. Today we want to highlight the new Nu Gaze revival with 3 bands who are paying homage to this beautiful blend of alternative rock and shoegaze from the ’00s.
Anemic Bittersweet
Whatever you want to call the music Anemic makes, it’s addictively bittersweet. This record has the intoxicating lull of drone and fuzz and low-soaring tones in their vocals and riffs. This Oakland/Sacramento band has a soft, melodic sound that takes me deep into my own mind to a place of peace. You can stream this record on Spotify or Apple Music, and fingers crossed for a physical release.
BREATHS breaths
Exclusive Track premiere: “Dream Walking”
Listening to BREATHS new single “Dream Walking” has e tripping out that this is a solo project. Jason Roberts has built a layered, heavy sound that echos through my ears like an orchestra of doom gaze majesty! I love the clear, clean vocals juxtaposed against the dense, fuzzy riffs and crashing percussion, there’s something almost angelic about the effect it creates. His new record breaths is out via Pleasure Tapes on July 19th — get it on cassette here. Check out our exclusive premiere of BREATHS “Dream Walking” right here:
DRAAG Actually, the quiet is nice
DRAAG put their record Actually, the quiet is nice on my birthday, and listening to it feels like a present. It’s like they sampled my favorite songs from my indie era, my shoegaze era, my dream pop era, and my alternative rock era and mixed them all into one sound. Their music makes me want to sway one minute and head bang another. It brings in an eerie levity and then hits me with a heavy riff. At times I feel like someone’s transported me into the Beatles’ 1967 acid trip and they’re all hallucinating about the future. Pick up Actually, the quiet is nice right here.
