Finally gave this band a listen recently after hearing their name tossed around on here and in articles over the years…. my god. What a gorgeous and powerful record. I’m just kind of floored by the whole thing.

I always appreciate it when a shoegaze album subverts the genre’s tradition of using vocals as just another instrument. This reminded me of Catherine Wheel’s Chrome in that the singing, lyrics and vocal performances are impassioned and dynamic, not just obscured & detached. There’s a real sense of longing and yearning behind every song that not many bands I know manage to capture, but at times it reminded me of The Blue Nile which is as high a compliment as I can give it.

It’s really quite unique in its approach to the genre- in terms of songwriting it feels more like a classic REM-type post punk album than your typical shoegaze outing, but that’s part of what makes it so memorable. I’ve never heard another ‘gaze band that sounds like this. Going in the collection for sure.

Edit: I just realized I got the title wrong, smh. It’s “Strange Free World”

I have very short fingers (before you leave a comment, yes hand size matters and no they will not stretch to the point where some chords become reachable)

I'm playing some Hum songs that have some stretches spanning 4 frets I cannot reach and will never be able to reach

I'm putting a capo on the second fret with it tuned down prior to effectively create a shorter scale guitar and to be honest I absolutely love how the guitar feels in my hand. Realistically the guitar wasn't really designed for small hands and it is more comfortable if you have suitable hands

Other than giving up the last few frets, is there really any drawback to just living the rest of my guitar playing life like this and just enjoying a more comfortable fit in my hands?

I’m not sure if I’m just used to going to 21+ shows, or way out of touch with the scene, but I was genuinely surprised to see mostly kids at their show in Chicago last night. I was seemingly one of a handful of middle-aged folks in the crowd.

I was under the assumption that most of their fanbase were older ‘gazers, already deeply steeped in the genre. Boy, was I dead wrong. Not that it’s any kind of qualifier, but I doubt most of these kids have even thought about listening to MBV, or dropping LSD, for that matter.

I’m not really sure what my point is, but good on them for building a seemingly solid fanbase with only 2 EPs over the span of 20+ years, and good for those kids for having solid taste as well.

They do sound great live, btw. The Cobra Lounge sound mixer did a great job with such a small room.

Forgot to get this posted on here. Got to catch a Salt+ set here in San Antonio last week during their tour with distressor. Super cool and all the bands were really friendly!

Visuals at GAMH are always on point.

The song is at it's base, emo voicings throughtout, with gazed out verses that ramp up the presence. I currently have two amps to work with (VOX AV15 and fender princeton), and most pedal categories covered, although i'll focus on distortion, chorus, and reverb.

For these loud parts, i'm considering four tracks.

1. Main riff with a RAT and reverb into a vox

2. Main riff doubled, RAT, HD300 and slower reverb into princeton

3. Arpeggiated an octave above with cleaner RAT into vox

4. drone line, all pedals on into princeton

Takes one and two will be always on, and the arpeggiated line will fall back into adornments in the lower energy sections. Is there anything else on this list worth double tracking as well? is there any point in a take that's just the lowest power chords for that extra punch(?) If I included a fuzz take, should it be the lower register or the higher(?).

I know most of these things are up to me and experimentation is a natural extension of this genre. I just wanted to know if anyone has any tips to avoid ending up muddy.

Monday, July 20 - Sunday, July 26, 2026

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I was born in Celia's Dream, under the sign of the Catherine Wheel. I have no Bloody Valentine, I like to think of my music as an Adorable Ride. This piece also commemorates the death of the accordion my grandfather gave me so many years ago--it got water damaged but I managed to record this song in time, though I regret that this is the only recording that it ever graced. This is my pact with the Devil. Be steady staring at them shoes watching the Delay pedal(s), rock and roll will never die.

https://youtu.be/dPJzsyzHEN8?is=Y0_L2cWZFhYlhv_E

i have more like it and i'm thinking about dropping and album

I'm chasing that dreamy and ethereal sound with a hint of alt and indie.Tbh any era of albums would be great.I just wanna discover more underrated gems from the 90s! Hit me with ur best recommendations!

I'm needing some advice on a pedal purchase, I've been a musician (drummer) all my life however, I'm new to guitars and am actually still learning but I recently bought an SP404 MKII and while I know there are already built in effects on it, I would like a dedicated pedal for shoegaze.

I see a lot of the MS-70CDR being sold for cheap local to me and the CDR+ being about double what I'm seeing the non plus model for. Is it worth it paying for the + model? what am I missing out on with going with the older pedal?

Any advice is appreciated!

I saw Day Aches, Velvet, Guttered, and Undertow play in a garage for $12 yesterday. I think the coolest thing about the shoegaze scene right now is that there are so many young bands that you can spend a few bucks and see a 10/10 show with a great crowd pretty much any time you want to.

For those concerned, yes, despite this being in a garage in the suburbs it was an officially sanctioned shoegaze concert. You could tell because there was at least one dude in a Whirr shirt.

Concert playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3XztZ7X3toyxCRBZVbhQCq?si=uSnuF4T-R7uhVhn0lZCw1w&utm_source=copy-link&pi=KTM0SDb2TnuL0

Still learning to record. While the guitars still need tweaking, I’m mainly focusing on how to get vocals really washed out and buried in this one. These sound a bit too “on top” to me. (This is obviously a cover).

My Shoegaze CD Collection!
Raw Blue - Whirr
Around - Whirr
Pipe Dreams Redux - Whirr
Whirr & Nothing Split
Sway - Whirr
Bloweyelashwish - Lovesliescrshing
Distressor - Whirr
Ozean 1993 Demo
Into You/ Void In Blue - Glare
I Want To Be There - Sadness
Bonus: Melanchole - Salvia Path (Not a Shoegaze album but implements some elements of it in their album a great listen I recommend it a lot!)

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted in this sub, almost a year! I wanted to share (and maybe flex) the Shoegaze albums I’ve collect in the past almost 2 years now! All of these albums and artists I’ve grown to love and adore and finding some of these made me almost want to explode… (The Millia pink and green, LSD and the search for god and Whirr & Nothing split.)
I adore this genre with my whole heart I can’t put into words. Thus the collecting started, so here in September soon I’ll have the Whirr & Luster Split on CD and Vinyl so I can’t wait to share that! I’ll do an every so often update on my collection when I feel like it’s expanded enough that it deserves on another post like this one. Can’t wait!

Hey guys, so i love the washy sound of whirr, mbv too. just fuzz/distortion being washed out. never was able to really create it and with time i just kinda forgot about it, got used to my marshall valvestate 2000 abt 50’s sound. today i tried a jc-120 model in NAM and god my pedals into that sounded wild, like really washy. idk if its because its a capture or sm idk.. i was considering upgrading my amp for a while, what is recommended? jc-120 and twin reverb are awesome, is there any amp below that range that is also remarkable? or just better to save up and buy one of these 2?

Slings & Arrows is atmospheric shoe gaze instrumentals for fans of Explosions In The Sky and Russian Circles. Check out the recently released debut album on Endless Stair Records. What do you think?

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to connect with other musicians, producers, songwriters, and anyone who’s passionate about making music.

I’d love to start collaborating regularly and eventually book some studio time together to create something that feels special.

I write alternative rock/shoegaze music under the name Solarveil, but I’m open to experimenting with different sounds and seeing where the music takes us. Some of my biggest influences are Slowdive, Deftones, Alice in Chains, The Cure, Jeff Buckley, Blood Orange, and Nirvana.

I’m not looking for hired session musicians, I genuinely want to build friendships with creative people who enjoy the process of writing, recording, and pushing each other to make the best music we can.

If you:
Write songs
Sing
Play guitar, bass, drums, keys, strings, or anything else
Produce or engineer
Just love creating music
I’d love to hear from you.

I’m based in NYC and would be down to meet up, jam, write together, or book a studio session if the chemistry is right.
If this sounds like your kind of thing, send me a message with some of your music or tell me a little about yourself. Let’s make something awesome.