The main charm of such wonderful musical genre as shoegaze has always been its clearly defined stylistic scope ... Simple as that, a magical synergy of noise and pop music gave the sprouts of a new style. But unfortunately, it's this simple, smooth scheme, through which in the late 80s mastodons My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus And Mary Chain made their way to a track-history, didn’t let the genre last long. And it was killed not by the burst of 90s but by the very stylistic frames which, although allowed to fly on pre-shoegaze orbit (with, for example, dream-pop) still led the genre to imminent death.
And then came the 2000s ... and a new flock of guys who are now gazing their shoes with even more enthusiasm: A Sunny Day In Glasgow, A Place To Bury Strangers, Serena Maneesh, The Twilight Sad...
And among the new galaxy of shoegazers I would like to highlight the band, which musical vector at the end of the first decade of the century coincided precisely with that one drawn by the founders of the genre over twenty years ago. I do not know how Michigan’s 800beloved do it, but each of the 9 tracks from their second album Everything Purple envelops and pulls you into the maelstrom of 80th. And what’s most important, despite the feeling of something painfully familiar, stylistically native, an arisen sense of nostalgia immediately transforms into the realization that shoegaze is reborn, and has already become a full part of a new musical era. Everything Purple easily proves it. The opening title track with its ringing guitar riff does not leave your head for a long time after listening to it, spreading out its lively rhythm into consciousness. The bass line got significantly bolder in second album (1992, Surf's Up), its impulse runs through your body from the very first notes.
Wild melancholy of Tidal forces everything in your chest to compress, freeze for three and a half minutes, as a rehearsal before the most exciting track from LP. Indeed, Lynch and the band have saved all the magic and splendor for later: after a rather indistinct middle of the album, which is nothing but a musical bridge, the perfect If Butterflies Never Burnt opens the last third of the disc. No, it doesn’t knock down, it gently lays you on the ground, at the shore, where the ocean speaks.. And without giving time to recover, a second wave brings the most delightful track of the album - No More Unicorns. Balancing on the edge of sadness and happiness, it would abduct anyone with the first sentence "I saw rainbow yesterday. Opened my eyes, it went away..." The album ends with an echo-sounding Malva, blending smoothly into the surf... the one which 800beloved carry you away into the ocean of sound with... And yes, all the songs from that LP are about love. But, dammit, when Sean Lynch sings "There are no more unicorns ever since I saw you", and his warm vocals are being picked up by the voice of Anastasiya Metesheva and the guitar’s glass ... perhaps, this is the true love ... Everything Purple does not destroy the canons, it’s not radically experimental, but it persistently claims that shoegaze/dream-pop woke up fresh, rested and are ready to continue the feast, which began in the 80s. Shoegaze is dead! Long live the Shoegaze!
