During the pandemic, when I had lots of time by myself, I listened to a bunch of shoegaze bands. It just seemed like a good soundtrack to being sheltered at home and all the crap happening in the outside world. Of course most of that was the shoegaze classics like My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, Slowdive, Ride, etc...
One nice things about streaming services (I prefer Apple Music to Spotify, which itself is another FMD topic) is that they will offer up other albums based on what you are listening to and I've been introduced to a lot more shoegazey bands that I missed when they originally came out. Two such bands and albums are Chapterhouse's Whirlpool and Mercury Rev's Yerself is Steam, both of which came out in 1991 so kind of right when bands like Ride, MBV, etc were starting out.
Yerself is Steam is a lot more aggressive with screaming guitars and overall weirdness. It's an acquired taste but the opening song Chasing a Bee is 7 minutes of get your guitar freak on bliss.
Whirlpool is an album that I can't stop listening to. It would be what most would consider a "classic shoegaze album" with soaring guitars, pop sensibilities, and dreamy vocals. One can hear snippets of Smashing Pumpkins' Gish, Lush, Ride, Swervedriver, and there's one song that could easily fit into Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation album. Some of these bands aren't really influences as they postdate or are happening at literally the same time as Chapterhouse is recording. It's a wonder to me why this album isn't more well known and beloved.
Anyway if interested in this type of music, definitely check out these two albums, especially Whirlpool.
Do you have any other albums of a similar vein that I should be checking out?
