97-483: Neil Halstead (born 7 October 1970) is an English musician, widely known as singer, primary songwriter and producer and guitarist of shoegaze band Slowdive . He has been hailed by AllMusic as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters", and Time Out as "one of Britain's greatest songwriters". Halstead was born in Reading, Berkshire , England. He is a singer/guitarist and served as frontman and primary songwriter for
194-450: A Gun ". By this time, the violence that was originally associated with the band was practically non-existent and the Reid brothers were less antagonistic and aggressive in general. The Rollercoaster EP (August 1990) would be their last release for over a year, the band undertaking a tour of the same name with My Bloody Valentine , Dinosaur Jr. , and Blur . Douglas Hart had moonlighted with
291-499: A Lush and Ride tour of the US in 1991 directly inspired the spawning of American shoegaze groups including Drop Nineteens , Half String and Ozean. Columnist Emma Sailor of KRUI in Iowa City opines: The insularity and introversion of British shoegaze was an intention[al] backlash against their country's mainstream. But when the shoegaze sound was exported to America, it arrived unattached from
388-464: A Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid , who are the two founders and only consistent members of the band since its formation. They are recognized as key figures in the development of the shoegaze and noise pop subgenres. The band have had twelve top 40 entries and two top 10 hits in
485-575: A Train ". The men of Springfield are helping Homer restore a train for Homer and Marge's anniversary. Reverend Lovejoy is reading a book called The Jesus and Mary Train . The song " Ebin " by Sublime references the Jesus and Mary Chain in the lyrics "Ebin was a cooly that I used to know / Now he's down with the PLO / He's cold kickin' it live with the KKK / No JMC, no JFA". Their song " Just Like Honey " from Psychocandy
582-542: A band he frequently listened to as child in his time abroad in Suffolk, England . The song " April Skies " was featured in the AMC TV series The Walking Dead in a scene from the episode entitled "Stradivarius". "Jesus", a character on the show, is seen listening to the song on a record player. Pixies have covered Head On, famously including the cover on their Trompe Le Monde album. American rock band Nudie Mag covered “About You” as
679-404: A generic term for all those bands that had a big, sweeping, effects-laden sound, but all stood resolutely still on stage. Ride 's Mark Gardener had another take on his group's static presentation: "We didn't want to use the stage as a platform for ego ... We presented ourselves as normal people, as a band who wanted their fans to think they could do that too." " All I Wanna Do ", a song from
776-577: A gig at the RPM club in Toronto in November 1987, when after being heckled throughout the gig by a group in the audience, Jim Reid thrust his microphone stand towards them, hitting one on the head. Jim was arrested and spent a night in jail, before being bailed to return the following February. He was subsequently given an absolute discharge after agreeing to give around £500 to a Salvation Army charity and apologise to
873-612: A more melodic sound, the album was recorded almost entirely by the Reids themselves, replacing live drums with a drum machine, and received overwhelmingly positive reviews by the British music press. The album's title track was released as a single in October, and the band were thrown off the ITV music show The Roxy when they failed to mime well enough to it. The band's dangerous reputation culminated at
970-459: A negative term. I think if Slowdive didn't stand there looking at what pedal was about to go on and off we'd have been shite. [...] I am glad we were static and concentrated on playing well. Now it is a positive term. However, to some, the term was considered a pejorative , especially by a part of the English weekly music press who considered the movement as ineffectual, and it was disliked by many of
1067-530: A new band comprising Phil King on guitar, Loz Colbert ( Ride ) on drums and bassist Mark Crozer (International Jetsetters). In 2006 five albums were reissued through Rhino Records : Psychocandy , Darklands , Automatic , Honey's Dead and Stoned & Dethroned on 11 July 2006. Each album was released with a DVD containing three promo videos from that particular album. The Jesus and Mary Chain reunited to perform at Coachella on 27 April 2007. During " Just Like Honey ", Scarlett Johansson , who starred in
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#17330854497521164-523: A riot, and national newspaper The Sun running a story on the band concentrating on violence and drugs, the band attracting the tag "The new Sex Pistols". That led several local councils to ban the band from performing in their area. The success of " Upside Down " led to interest from WEA -subsidiary Blanco y Negro Records which signed the group in early 1985. The group released the single " Never Understand " in February which reached number forty-seven on
1261-490: A solo EP in April 1998—and Jim Reid founded Freeheat along with Lurie and ex- Gun Club bassist Romi Mori and Earl Brutus drummer Nick Sanderson , although neither act received much attention or found any success. In October 2005, it was announced that the Reids were reunited; Jim Reid's track "Song for a Secret" a duet with his wife Julie Barber, was released as a single, paired up with Sister Vanilla's "Can't Stop The Rock", which
1358-402: A statement saying that "the audience were not smashing up the hall, they were smashing up pop music", going on to say "This is truly art as terrorism". The violence soon started to become a hindrance to the band, with people attending concerts simply for the violence rather than the music, William commenting "I hate it, I despise it. It gets in the way in terms of getting more gigs, and it gets in
1455-409: A surf board". Halstead's first solo album, Sleeping on Roads , was released in 2001, followed by Oh! Mighty Engine (2008), released on friend and fellow surfer Jack Johnson 's Brushfire Records label. Halstead's third solo album, Palindrome Hunches , was released in 2012; it was described as "an exquisite set of dark folk music" by The Times , while God Is In The TV called it "undoubtedly one of
1552-447: A tour of Japan. On returning to the UK they toured the UK, this time without the trouble that had marred earlier performances. The band revived their acoustic intentions with a stripped-down session for John Peel in November 1985, which included "Psychocandy", the original album title track that was omitted from the release, and "Some Candy Talking", a song which they had been performing for over
1649-409: A week after Pygmalion 's release, and Tarantula would also be deleted from their catalogue a week after its release. Lush's final album, Lovelife , was an abrupt shift from shoegaze to Britpop, which alienated many fans; the 1996 suicide of their drummer Chris Acland signaled Lush's dissolution. Following a long gap from My Bloody Valentine since Loveless , aside from their 2008 reunion tour,
1746-613: A year later) and convinced the station to ban it from being played. In September 1986, the band parted ways with manager Alan McGee, and came close to splitting up later in the year, with Jim Reid suffering from "exhaustion". John Moore had become an established member, but moved to rhythm guitar, with former Redskins member Martin Hewes joining the band briefly (although he strongly denies ever joining) and former Dead Can Dance percussionist James Pinker taking over on drums. Blanco y Negro manager Geoff Travis took over management duties, and
1843-631: A year, but had been left off the album. A second version of "Some Candy Talking" was issued on a free EP issued with the NME in January 1986, and the song was released as the band's next single in July. It reached number thirteen in the UK Singles Chart , but attracted controversy when BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Smith decided that the song was a paean to illegal drugs (denied by the band at the time, but admitted by William
1940-535: Is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback , and overwhelming volume. It emerged in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups who usually stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state. The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals , as
2037-413: Is now considered a landmark recording. Drummer Gillespie announced his departure from the band in October 1985, to concentrate on Primal Scream. He had recorded most of the drums on Psychocandy , with John Moore filling in when Gillespie was unavailable, eventually joining the band to replace him. John Loder also acted as a stand-in drummer when Gillespie was unavailable for live performances. When
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#17330854497522134-541: Is referred to as the genre's defining album . After garnering some local popularity with their 1987 twee/noise pop single, " Sunny Sundae Smile ", My Bloody Valentine started to move their sound more and more into experimentation with noise and complex series of effect pedals—as seen in their 1988 breakthrough: the You Made Me Realise EP and album Isn't Anything . Michael Azerrad's book Our Band Could Be Your Life cited an early 1990s Dinosaur Jr. tour of
2231-615: The Billboard Hot 100 . The band departed from WEA after ten years, and then signed with Sub Pop Records in the US and re-signed with Creation Records in the UK for the release of the album Munki in 1998. The band broke up the following year as a result of an onstage altercation the year prior; William Reid prematurely left a tour after fighting with an intoxicated Jim Reid. They eventually reunited in 2007, and in 2017, they released Damage and Joy , their first studio album in 19 years and seventh overall. Their next album, Glasgow Eyes ,
2328-627: The Rollercoaster Tour to support the album, the band concentrated on cracking the United States' market, with an appearance on David Letterman 's show, and a tour as part of the Lollapalooza line-up, which William later described as "the worst experience of our lives," followed by their own headlining tour. In December 1992, the Reids again lost their rhythm section, with Ben Lurie returning and Steve Monti joining on drums. Another compilation
2425-407: The UK Singles Chart in the course of their career. The Reid brothers recruited Douglas Hart on bass and Murray Dalglish on drums as their initial lineup. After signing to the independent label Creation Records , they released their first single " Upside Down " in 1984. Bobby Gillespie replaced Dalglish on drums, and their debut album Psychocandy was released to critical acclaim in 1985 on
2522-455: The UK Singles Chart . The label had initially refused to press the single due to its B-side, "Suck", but went ahead given the alternative put forward by the band, a song called "Jesus Fuck". The band were eager to get "Jesus Fuck" released, and McGee got as far as producing test pressings of a re-issue of "Upside Down" with the song on the B-side, before the band insisted that Blanco y Negro include
2619-592: The 'scene' by the press included several of the bands that were branded with the shoegazing label, such as Chapterhouse , Lush , Moose and other (mainly indie ) bands such as Blur (prior to the release of their single " Popscene "), Thousand Yard Stare , See See Rider and Stereolab . A prime example were Moose, who often swapped members with other bands on a given night. Moose's Russell Yates and Stereolab guitarist Tim Gane would often trade places, while "Moose" McKillop often played with See See Rider. Gane and his Stereolab colleague Lætitia Sadier even played on
2716-559: The 1980s. Playing in front of small audiences, during early shows the Mary Chain performed very short gigs, typically fueled by amphetamines and lasting around 20 minutes, and played with their backs to the audience, refusing to speak to them. In late December 1984, the band performed as part of the ICA Rock Week. During their performance, bottles were thrown on stage, with press reports exaggerating events and claiming that there had been
2813-455: The 1991 session by Moose for John Peel 's BBC Radio 1 show. The bands, producers and journalists of the time would gather in London and their activities would be chronicled in the gossip pages of the music papers NME and Melody Maker . The most famous club and focal point was Syndrome, which was located on Oxford Street and ran weekly on Wednesday nights. The NME , in particular, embraced
2910-586: The 1995 EP released under American Records, a number of new works and B-sides were published which were later collected in the album Munki . After the release of the 1995 compilation Hate Rock 'N' Roll , the Mary Chain parted ways with Blanco y Negro, their record label of over a decade, and re-signed to their original label Creation Records , and Sub Pop in America. The band now included former Lush bassist Phil King . They then recorded 1998's Munki album, which would turn out to be their last before splitting
3007-648: The Acid Angels in 1988, and left the band in 1991, to have a career in film making, before picking up his bass again in 2006, playing with the Sian Alice Group , Le Volume Courbe , and Cristine. Thomas also quit the band to join Renegade Soundwave . The fluid nature of the Mary Chain's line up continued throughout their entire career, with a revolving door of drummers, bassists and guitarists being recruited for TV appearances and gigs whenever they were required,
Neil Halstead - Misplaced Pages Continue
3104-403: The B-side, which included "Kill Surf City", a reworking of Brian Wilson's " Surf City ". The various formats released also included a cover of Bo Diddley 's "Who Do You Love?", a tribute to him with "Bo Diddley is Jesus", and a live version of Can 's " Mushroom ". " Happy When It Rains " was the second pre-album single, strongly influenced by Smokey Robinson 's "My Girl", but it failed to match
3201-590: The Banshees , The Monkees , Einstürzende Neubauten , and Muddy Waters . Early demos displayed a similarity to the Ramones , prompting the brothers to add another element to their sound; in William's words: "That's why we started using noise and feedback. We want to make records that sound different." They began playing live in early 1984. In the early days William Reid's guitar would be left out of tune, while Dalglish's drum kit
3298-513: The Beach Boys ' 1970 album Sunflower , was retrospectively viewed as a precursor to shoegaze, and was one of many influences on both the shoegaze and dream pop scenes of the early 1990s. Post-punk acts Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure were formative influences on shoegaze. Slowdive named themselves after the Siouxsie and the Banshees song of the same name and took inspiration from
3395-545: The Halstead-helmed Mojave 3 and released a string of highly celebrated records that merged jangly alt-country with dusky psychedelic dream pop . In 2006, Mojave 3 went on an indefinite hiatus, prompting Halstead to embark on an acoustic-driven solo career marked by an emphasis on British folk -inspired melody and a love of surfing . An occasional drift into more whimsical territory prompted NME to describe Halstead as "like Syd Barrett if he’d ever set foot on
3492-531: The UK. Spitting feedback and punk rock bile in every direction, the track was banned from being played on BBC Radio 1 and from Top of the Pops , due to its potentially offensive lyrics ('I wanna die just like JFK , I wanna die in the USA'...'I wanna die just like Jesus Christ , I wanna die on a bed of spikes'). The single was followed by the release of the album Honey's Dead (1992), which received mixed reviews. After
3589-410: The US (" Blues from a Gun " and " Head On "). Hart departed from the band two years later. The Jesus and Mary Chain then released the albums Honey's Dead in 1992 and Stoned & Dethroned in 1994, both of which continued their popularity in the US. " Sometimes Always ", taken from Stoned & Dethroned , became the band's most commercially successful single in the US as it peaked at No. 94 on
3686-542: The United Kingdom as a key influence. Whereas contemporary alternative rock movements of the time period were extremely male-dominated (Britpop, grunge), My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Lush, Cocteau Twins, Pale Saints, Curve and many other popular shoegaze acts had at least one prominent female musician who contributed key vocal elements and/or integral writing components to the music. In the 2014 film Beautiful Noise , Kevin Shields noted that there were as many women as men in
3783-520: The United States' Copyright Act of 1976 , artists may reclaim the rights to their recordings after 35 years, provided that they serve timely and proper notice upon the current record label. The case was settled out of court in March 2023 On 29 November 2023, the band released "Jamcod", the lead single from their eighth album Glasgow Eyes , which was released on 22 March 2024. They were referenced in season 24 , episode 22 of The Simpsons , " Dangers on
3880-480: The Velvet Underground also proved very influential for many shoegaze acts. According to AllMusic , most bands drew from the music of My Bloody Valentine as a template for the genre, as well as groups such as Cocteau Twins and the Jesus and Mary Chain . British dream pop duo A.R. Kane have also been credited with producing a template for the genre in the late 1980s. My Bloody Valentine's Loveless
3977-431: The audience reaction was the length of the band's sets at the time, which lasted less than twenty-five minutes, Jim explaining this with "there's never been a group good enough to play any longer". Lack of songs was also a factor, according to Jim: "We've only got enough songs to play for that long". After the success of the album in the UK, the band embarked on a tour of the United States in late 1985 and 1986, followed by
Neil Halstead - Misplaced Pages Continue
4074-472: The audience waiting for over an hour before taking the stage, and then left the stage after playing for less than twenty minutes. Members of the audience began throwing cans at where the band were hiding behind the stage curtains, before mounting the stage to smash the equipment that remained there. The violence continued for some time before police eventually took control. The venue blamed the band's late appearance and two equipment breakdowns, while McGee issued
4171-490: The band Death Cab for Cutie in the song " We Looked Like Giants " from their fourth studio album Transatlanticism . Jimmy Eat World also referred to the band and their third album ("The DJ never has it, J.A.M.C. Automatic") in the lyrics of "The Authority Song" from their fourth album Bleed American . In addition, Jesus and Mary Chain are referenced in the song "Mildenhall" from The Shins's fifth full-length studio album, Heartworms . James Mercer mentions them as
4268-461: The band also made a TV appearance on Whistle Test in March and The Tube the same year. The third single for Blanco y Negro, " Just Like Honey ", released in October, was their biggest hit to date, reaching No. 45. Eager to avoid the violence of earlier gigs and to give an opportunity for their songs to be heard without distortion and feedback, the band planned to perform several unannounced acoustic sets supporting Sonic Youth , but this
4365-519: The band and many shows culminated with the Reids trashing their equipment, which was often followed by the audience throwing projectiles onto the stage and damaging equipment. On 15 March 1985, the Jesus and Mary Chain played a gig at the North London Polytechnic in front of one of their largest crowds up to that point. The organizers had overbooked the venue, leaving hundreds of fans locked outside. When Gillespie and Hart attempted to break
4462-434: The band became the first to sign to the newly reformed Creation Management, helmed by Alan McGee. The band played Psychocandy in full through 2015 to celebrate the album's 30th anniversary. In September 2015, Jim Reid announced that the band were recording their first studio album since 1998. The album titled Damage and Joy was produced by Youth and released on 24 March 2017. On 24 August 2017, Bobby Gillespie joined
4559-582: The band on drums for three Psychocandy songs during their performance at Vilar de Mouros Festival in Portugal . In autumn 2018, they opened for Nine Inch Nails ' "Cold and Black and Infinite" North American tour. The band announced a Darklands tour of Europe in March and April 2020, which was ultimately postponed to November and December 2021. In June 2021, the band sued Warner Music Group for control of their debut album Psychocandy , and later albums, and seeking $ 2.55 million in damages. Under Section 203 of
4656-518: The band released m b v in February 2013. Shields explained their silence by noting, "I never could be bothered to make another record unless I was really excited by it." Several former members of shoegaze bands later moved towards dream pop, post-rock, and the more electronica-based trip hop . Neil Halstead , Rachel Goswell , and Ian McCutcheon of Slowdive would form Mojave 3 , while guitarist Christian Savill would form Monster Movie . Adam Franklin of Swervedriver released lo-fi albums under
4753-583: The band relocated to Fulham , London, in May 1984, and soon afterwards their demo tape was passed to fellow Scot Alan McGee by Bobby Gillespie. Subsequently, McGee promoted a gig for the band at the Living Room in London in June 1984. On the strength of hearing the band sound check, McGee signed them to his Creation Records label on a one-off deal, and McGee also became the band's manager. Their debut single, " Upside Down ",
4850-564: The band returned in December with two gigs at the National Ballroom in Kilburn, London where they premiered new songs including "April Skies" and "Hit". Early in 1987, they entered the studio to record their second album. The first fruits of these sessions were released on the " April Skies " single in April, which saw the band have their first top ten hit. The Beach Boys influence was evident on
4947-467: The band signed to Blanco y Negro in January 1985, there were stories reporting that they had stolen money from managing Director Rob Dickens's jacket and destroyed his office, all untrue but seen as good publicity by manager McGee. In a performance on Belgian television in March 1985, the band did smash the set and the audio equipment, but this was at the request of the TV producer. Such behaviour became expected of
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#17330854497525044-439: The complainant. With the court case hanging over the band, they compiled a collection of B-sides and rarities for release in April 1988 as Barbed Wire Kisses . They also selected live tracks from a Detroit concert the previous November for release while they planned further studio work. Dave Evans, former Mary Chain soundman and bass player with Biff Bang Pow! (which also featured Alan McGee and Dick Green of Creation Records)
5141-521: The cultural context that originally prompted its gloomy moods. The result? American indie bands gave shoegaze an entirely new image. Where the sound once was tightly linked with introversion, it was now attached to summery, outward looking songs with a focus on celebrating youth. About DC-based Velocity Girl 's 1991 single "My Forgotten Favorite", Sailor goes on to note, "Could anything be more different—and yet so similar—to [Slowdive]? The hazy [production] and dreamy, high pitched female vocals are there, but
5238-422: The early 1990s was "the scene that celebrates itself". Most shoegaze artists drew from the template set by My Bloody Valentine on their late 1980s recordings, as well as bands such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Cocteau Twins . In the early 1990s, shoegaze was sidelined by American grunge and early Britpop acts, resulting in relatively unknown bands breaking up or reinventing their style altogether. Since
5335-563: The emergence of " post-metal " and "metalgaze" styles. Particularly in the mid-2000s, French black metal acts Alcest and Amesoeurs began incorporating shoegaze elements into their sound, pioneering the blackgaze genre. In eastern Asia the genre has become increasingly popular with bands such as Cocteau Twins influencing the creation of new "art school" shoegaze. Bands like Tokyo Shoegazer and For Tracy Hyde have increasingly adopted western elements, with some bands combining Indie music with shoegaze and psychedelic rock. Further, since
5432-588: The film Lost in Translation featuring the song, performed with the band on the main stage. The band held a warm-up gig the day before in Pomona, California with Giant Drag's Annie Hardy as the guest. The band's first UK performance since reforming was at the Meltdown festival in June. In June 2007, Jim Reid revealed that the band was working on a new album. In March 2008, the band released "All Things Must Pass" for
5529-652: The finest British records released this year". Halstead formed the project Black Hearted Brother in 2013, releasing one album, Stars Are Our Home . Slowdive, including Halstead, reformed in 2014, and released their fourth, self-titled, album in 2017. In 2015, Halstead served as the touring guitarist for Sun Kil Moon on select European dates, including their appearance at the Primavera Sound festival. Halstead produced Mary Lattimore 's 2020 album Silver Ladders . Shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with " dream pop ")
5626-412: The first time in May. The lineup featured guitarist John Moore and Fountains of Wayne drummer Brian Young replacing Loz Colbert . Mark Crozer replaced Moore beginning with the band's Tel Aviv shows in October. In 2013, it was announced that a full-discography vinyl box set, dubbed as The Complete Vinyl Collection , would be released for the band's 30th anniversary, via Demon Music Group. In 2014,
5723-409: The first use of the name was in a concert review for Moose, published by Sounds , in which the author referenced how singer Russell Yates read lyrics taped to the floor throughout the gig. According to AllMusic : "The shatteringly loud, droning neo-psychedelia the band performed was dubbed shoegaze by the British press because the band members stared at the stage while they performed". The term
5820-457: The following year. Munki was commercially the least successful album the band released, peaking at number forty-seven in the UK Album Chart . The album featured the Reids' sister Linda, who sang on the track "Mo Tucker" as well as vocals from Hope Sandoval on "Perfume". Though it was not until October 1999 that the split was made official, on 12 September 1998, William had a falling out in
5917-700: The group at their beginnings, while their contemporaries Lush were originally called "The Baby Machines", a line from a Siouxsie Sioux lyric. During early and mid 1980s, the English alternative rock and neo-psychedelia scenes produced several bands whose exploration of sounds and textures would impact shoegaze. Those bands included the House of Love , Spacemen 3 , and Loop , the latter two of whom were notable influences on shoegazers Ride and Slowdive. American underground bands Sonic Youth , Dinosaur Jr. , and Pixies were also cited by various shoegaze bands as touchstones for their respective sounds. Proto-punk band
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#17330854497526014-467: The groups it purported to describe. Lush 's singer Miki Berenyi explained: Shoegazing was originally a slag-off term. My partner [K.J. 'Moose' McKillop], who was the guitarist in Moose, claims that it was originally leveled at his band. Apparently the journo was referring to the bank of effects pedals he had strewn across the stage that he had to keep staring at in order to operate. And then it just became
6111-447: The late 2010s, a renewed interest in the genre has been noted, namely among nu gaze and blackgaze bands. Shoegaze combines ethereal, swirling vocals with layers of distorted , bent, or flanged guitars, creating a wash of sound where no instrument is distinguishable from another. The genre was typically "overwhelmingly loud, with long, droning riffs, waves of distortion, and cascades of feedback. Vocals and melodies disappeared into
6208-646: The late 2010s, some artists began prominently incorporating emo themes into shoegaze, with albums like Weatherday ' s Come In (2019) and Parannoul ' s To See the Next Part of the Dream (2021) being examples. In the early 2020s, shoegaze became popular among Generation Z people and on TikTok , with bands such as Julie . Multiple outlets described this as shoegaze's "revival" or "resurrection". The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are
6305-406: The locks, the police were called. Support band Meat Whiplash had stirred up violence before the Mary Chain set foot onto the stage when singer Paul McDermott threw an empty wine bottle into the audience, prompting four members of the crowd to attack him, leading to their set being abandoned. Second act The Jasmine Minks got through their set without incident, but The Jesus and Mary Chain then kept
6402-520: The major label WEA . After its release, Gillespie left the band to work on his own band Primal Scream . The band's biggest commercial success domestically was their second album Darklands , which reached No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart in 1987 and spawned the hit single " April Skies ", peaking at No. 8 in the UK. It was the band's only top ten album. The band released their third album Automatic in 1989, which spawned their first charting singles in
6499-477: The melodic contribution of vocals over their lyrical depth. Many shoegaze bands would either disband or change their sound during the mid-1990s. Ride disbanded before the release of their fourth album, Tarantula , which would shift to a more contemporary alternative rock sound. Slowdive's third album, Pygmalion , would shift to a more experimental sound that was stylistically closer to post-rock than shoegaze. Slowdive would be dropped from Creation Records just
6596-402: The moniker Toshack Highway . The use of electronic dance and ambient elements by bands such as Slowdive and Seefeel paved the way for later developments in post-rock and electronica . While shoegaze briefly flared and then faded out in the UK, the bands of the initial wave had an immense impact on the development of regional underground and college rock scenes in the US. In particular,
6693-607: The only constants being the Reid brothers. The Reid brothers recruited former Starlings rhythm section Matthew Parkin and Barry Blackler to replace Hart and Thomas. The brothers bought their own recording studio in 1991 in Elephant & Castle in South London , which they dubbed The Drugstore , and they returned in February 1992 with the first fruits of the new studio, their next single, "Reverence", which gave them their biggest hit single in almost five years, reaching No. 10 in
6790-479: The outlook is entirely different." Other notable American shoegaze influenced bands of the early-to mid-1990s included Lilys , Swirlies , The Veldt, and Medicine . A resurgence of the genre began in the late 1990s (particularly in the United States) and the early 2000s, that helped usher in what is now referred to as the "nu gaze" era. Also various heavy metal acts were inspired by shoegaze, which contributed to
6887-404: The performers were often looking down at their pedals during concerts. My Bloody Valentine and their 1991 album Loveless (1991) are widely regarded as defining the genre; other prominent shoegaze groups include Slowdive , Ride , Lush , Curve , Pale Saints , Swirlies , Chapterhouse , and Swervedriver . A loose label given to the shoegaze bands and other affiliated bands in London in
6984-428: The scene, and the unity of the bands was probably advantageous to their careers, because when one band had a successful record, the other bands could share the publicity. The scene was extremely small and revolved around fewer than 20 individuals. The first stirrings of recognition came when indie writer Steve Lamacq referred to Ride in an NME review as " the House of Love with chainsaws". The shoegaze genre label
7081-504: The shoegaze band Slowdive, formed in 1989 out of his first band, the Pumpkin Fairies. Slowdive released the albums Just for a Day (1991), Souvlaki (1993), Pygmalion (1995), Slowdive (2017) and Everything Is Alive (2023). Halstead also recorded with a side project called Zurich with members of Seefeel and Knives ov Resistance; the trio's sole album was released in 2014. After their 1995 breakup, Slowdive morphed into
7178-528: The shoegaze community. The Scene That Celebrates Itself was the social and musical scene in the early 1990s within London and the Thames Valley area. The term was coined by Melody Maker's Steve Sutherland in 1990 in a near-contemptuous gesture, focusing on how bands involved in the scene, rather than engaging in traditional rivalries, were often seen at each other's gigs, sometimes playing in each other's bands, and drinking together. Bands lumped into
7275-487: The single " Birthday " by The Sugarcubes . In September 1989, The band provided backing vocals for the Erasure single " Drama! ". The band's third studio album Automatic was released in October 1989, by which time Evans had been replaced by Ben Lurie . Boasting heavy use of synthesized bass and keyboards , the album was not received quite as well as its predecessors. It contained the singles " Head On " and " Blues from
7372-404: The soundtrack to NBC 's television series Heroes , their first new song since 1998. In September 2008, Rhino Records released the 4-CD compilation The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities . In 2010, a greatest hits album, Upside Down: The Best of The Jesus and Mary Chain , was released via Music Club Deluxe. The band toured North America in 2012 and also played China for
7469-489: The success of "April Skies", only reaching number twenty-five. The band set out on another UK tour, this time with sets stretching to 45 minutes, although to a mixed reaction from the music press. They toured without a drummer, instead using a drum machine. The band's second album, Darklands , was released during the tour, in September, described by writer Steve Taylor as "the definitive blend of light and shade". Featuring
7566-436: The tour bus with Lurie, the guitarist, before they were to play a sold out performance at the famous Los Angeles House of Blues . Jim appeared onstage apparently drunk and barely able to stand or sing. William walked offstage about 15 minutes into their set, and the show ended. The audience was later refunded the price of their tickets. The band finished up their U.S. and Japanese dates without William, but from that point, it
7663-414: The track on their next single. The follow-up, "You Trip Me Up", was delayed due to staff at the pressing plant refusing to press it due to the presence of the song, now re-titled "Jesus Suck"; The single was released in June 1985 with a new B-side, "Just Out of Reach". John Peel got the band to record a second session for his BBC Radio 1 show in February 1985 (the first was only a few months earlier), and
7760-422: The walls of guitars." In a 2016 article for HuffPost Andy Ross claimed he coined the term "shoegazing" at a show on 3 September 1991 which featured Chapterhouse , Slowdive and Moose , because the bands' members seemed to be in "a state of trance by the footwear lurking semi-motionless beneath their low-slung guitars". Alternatively, The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music (1992) claimed that
7857-586: The way of our image". Many performances were cancelled during the remainder of 1985, with promoters or local councils not prepared to risk a riot. The violence flared up again at a performance at the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town in September, with bottles thrown at the band while they played, and a section of the audience smashing up the amplification equipment and smashing the lights afterwards, with several people injured by flying glass. A major factor in
7954-459: The world". Dalglish left in November 1984 after a dispute over money and was replaced shortly afterwards by Gillespie who had also formed Primal Scream two years earlier in 1982. " Upside Down " topped the UK Indie Chart in February 1985 and then again in March and stayed on the chart for 76 weeks, selling around 35,000 copies in total, making it one of the biggest-selling indie singles of
8051-608: Was abandoned when the plans were leaked. Their debut album Psychocandy followed in November that year. The album fused together the Reids' two primary influences: the guitar noise of the Stooges and the Velvet Underground with the pop songwriting and melodies of the Beach Boys, The Shangri-Las and Phil Spector ; In fact, the album's opening song, " Just Like Honey ," borrows Hal Blaine 's famous drum intro from The Ronettes 1963 classic, " Be My Baby ", produced and co-written by Spector. The record received unanimously positive reviews and
8148-477: Was also used by the British music press to describe dream pop bands. Slowdive 's Simon Scott found the term relevant: I always thought Robert Smith , when he was in Siouxsie and the Banshees playing guitar [on the 1983's Nocturne live video], was the coolest as he just stood there and let the music flood out. That anti showmanship was perfect so I never really understood why people began to use "shoegaze" as
8245-521: Was clear that the band was at its end. Jim Reid said in 2006 of the tension between himself and William: "After each tour we wanted to kill each other, and after the final tour we tried". On the final night of the tour in Providence, Rhode Island , the band's promoter ran off with the money and the band reportedly got in a fight with the cast of the show Riverdance . Immediately after the split, William Reid went solo as Lazycame —having already released
8342-437: Was featured in the 1992 film Pet Sematary II . "Snakedriver" was featured on The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack . “Why’d You Want Me” was featured in the 1992 Pauly Shore film Encino Man . A poster for the band is seen in the 1995 Bottom episode " Terror " in the scene where Richie ( Rik Mayall ) and Eddie ( Ade Edmondson ) fight three boys dressed as devils. They were referenced by their acronym J.A.M.C. by
8439-555: Was featured in the closing scene of the Sofia Coppola film Lost in Translation . In the 2000 movie High Fidelity , the album Psychocandy is recommended to a record store customer, with The Jesus and Mary Chain cited as picking up where Echo and the Bunnymen left off. The acoustic version of their song "Taste of Cindy" was featured in the 2009 Greg Mottola film Adventureland . The song " Reverence " from their Honey's Dead album
8536-511: Was in sharp contrast with both the bands who formed the wave of newly commercialized grunge music which was making its way across the Atlantic, as well as those bands who formed the foundation of Britpop, such as Pulp , Oasis , Blur and Suede . Britpop also offered intelligible lyrics, often about the trials and tribulations of working-class life; this was a stark contrast to the "vocals as an instrument" approach of shoegaze, which often prized
8633-551: Was limited to two drums, and Hart's bass guitar only had three strings, down to two by 1985; in Hart's words, "That's the two I use. I mean what's the fucking point spending money on another two? Two is enough." Struggling to get gigs, the band took to turning up at venues claiming to be the support band, playing their short set and making a quick exit. After failing to generate any interest from concert promoters and record labels in Scotland,
8730-433: Was making this electronic pop music." Before forming the band, the brothers had spent five years on the dole , during which they wrote and recorded songs at home and worked out the sound and image of the band. Originally called The Poppy Seeds, and then Death of Joey, they initially told journalists that they had taken their eventual name from a line in a Bing Crosby film, although six months later they admitted that this
8827-817: Was not true. Other accounts suggest that the name derived from an offer on a breakfast cereal packet, where customers could send off for a gold Jesus & Mary chain. As neither brother wanted to be the singer, they decided on Jim via coin toss . The brothers started recording and sending demos to record companies in 1983 (using a Portastudio bought with £ 300 given to them by their father from redundancy pay after he lost his factory job), and by early 1984 they had recruited bass player Douglas Hart and teenage drummer Murray Dalglish . Early influences included The Velvet Underground , The Stooges , and The Shangri-Las , William said in 1985, "We all love The Shangri-Las, and one day we're going to make Shangri-Las records." Jim mentioned his liking for Pink Floyd , Siouxsie and
8924-528: Was quite often misapplied. As key bands such as Slowdive, Chapterhouse and Ride emerged from the Thames Valley , Swervedriver found themselves labelled shoegazers on account of their own Thames Valley origins, despite their more pronounced Hüsker Dü-meets- Stooges stylings. The coining of the term "The Scene That Celebrates Itself" was in many ways the beginning of the end for the first wave of shoegazers. The bands became perceived by critics as over-privileged, self-indulgent, and middle-class. This perception
9021-513: Was recorded in October and released in November that year. The sessions were produced by Joe Foster , but McGee, unsatisfied with Foster's work, remixed the A-side, although the B-side, a cover version of Syd Barrett 's " Vegetable Man ", remained credited to Foster. The band were gaining increasing attention from the music press at this time with Neil Taylor of the NME describing them as "the best band in
9118-458: Was recruited in September 1987 to replace Moore, who formed John Moore and the Expressway. Richard Thomas joined on drums in early 1988. The band had been using drum tapes on tour before Thomas. Their next release was the new recording " Sidewalking ", released in March 1988, and backed by some of the live tracks, followed a month later by Barbed Wire Kisses . Later that year, they did a remix for
9215-518: Was released in 1993, The Sound of Speed , before they returned to the studio to record their fifth album proper, Stoned & Dethroned which would see release in 1994, and featured guest appearances from Shane MacGowan and William's then-girlfriend Hope Sandoval . The album was originally planned as an acoustic album, but this idea was abandoned because, in Jim's words, "We couldn't do enough interesting things with acoustic guitars to make an album". In
9312-409: Was released in 2024 and became the band's first top 10 album in the UK since 1988. Brothers Jim and William Reid formed a band in the early 1980s in response to their distaste of the music at the time, saying, "It was the crap coming out of the radio that made us want to be in a band". This worked in their favor, as William said, "It was perfect timing because there weren't any guitar bands. Everybody
9409-428: Was written and produced by William and the brothers' younger sibling, Linda. The single was released by Transistor Records on 17 October. Jim promoted his side of the single with a very rare solo gig at London's Sonic Cathedral club on John Peel Day, Thursday 13 October 2005. He finished the appearance with a performance of the early Mary Chain classic "Never Understand". Jim also performed new material at low-key gigs with
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