Right now, the shoegaze scene is more buoyant than it’s been in years. There’s a whole new generation folding that shoegaze sound into their collective consciousness and creating a fresh new direction for the genre. Every now and again though you’ll hear a track that is dripping in authenticity and it’s obvious that the band involved absolutely get what great shoegaze is. What’s even rarer though is when a release features two such bands.
I first heard the new split single from Philly band Doused and San Diego based Sparkler a couple weeks back. I’m not overstating things when I say my jaw hit the deck.
Doused
I’ve been a big fan of Doused for a while now. I grabbed copies of their stunning debut album Murmur and recent single ‘cherrycolacrush’ on vinyl almost on release day. It was a no brainer for me to check this single out.
‘Asleep (In A Dream)’ has one of the greatest shoegaze intros of all time. It captures that 90’s aesthetic and folds in that grunge attack to propel us headlong in the sonic assault of that twin guitar attack. What Doused recognise is that at the heart of any great shoegaze song is a great pop song. The boy girl vocal approach only lends another layer of authenticity to their songwriting. The delivery of the song swathed in the waves of glide and reverberating guitars makes this song perfect top my ears. Check it out for yourself.
Sparkler
Sparkler were relatively new to me but their sound hit me immediately. This was the sound of 1991 somehow transported through time to today. Much like Doused this band hooks you in right from the intro which takes a drum sample and layers those glide guitars over the top much like My Bloody Valentine did on the segues between tracks on Loveless. The song then blossoms and is as heady as it comes. Punctuated by that intro riff the song has beautiful vocals, sparse and barely audible through the fuzzed-out haze of the song. The way it should be. I cannot stress how much I love this band and cannot wait to explore their back catalogue. Check out the track here.
The single is out now and available digitally via Flesh and Bone Records and on Bandcamp. There’s also a limited-edition cassette and t shirt available now too. No vinyl option yet but if we all send begging letters maybe we’ll get a seven inch too.
You can follow Doused on social media here…
You can follow Sparkler on social media here…
Tour News
If you are based in the US, you can catch the bands on tour together in August.
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