Dream Pop
Noah’s Barks pages relating to the dream pop music genre.
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Cocteau Twins – “Head Over Heels”
Head Over Heels is the best album by Cocteau Twins. The simple reason for that being that it has the most variety in the songwriting. Lack of variety in the songs is always, always, always the number one problem when it comes to dream pop albums and is what separates the good albums of the… (read more)
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The Wake – “Assembly” (2002)
Oi, The Wake tricked me with Assembly, so this review is dedicated to the other five fans of The Wake. The compilation Assembly ostensibly has five unreleased songs, but it’s actually two. “Rise and Shine” is a demo of “Sail Through.” “Make You Understand” is “World of Her Own.” “The Calendar” is “Torn Calendar.” They’re… (read more)
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A.R. Kane – “Love-Sick”
"Green Hazed Daze" is good—and I mean damn good. One of the few essential dream pop tracks from the ’80s. Psychedelic, seaside, Beach Boys-esque dream pop. (read more)
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Slowdive – “Just for a Day”
Slowdive frontman Neil Halstead falsely claimed to the band’s label Creation Records that they had enough songs for an album. In six weeks, Slowdive created their debut. It shows. (read more)
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Slowdive – “Slowdive”
Shoegaze icons Slowdive begin their career with this modest, self-titled, 1990 EP. (read more)
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Slowdive – “Morningrise”
1991’s "Morningrise" EP has Slowdive make gigantic strides in songwriting. (read more)
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Slowdive – “Souvlaki”
"Souvlaki" is one of the most major albums to come out of the shoegaze movement of the 90s — and for very good reason. (read more)
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Pale Saints – “In Ribbons” (1992)
The shoegaze “canon” be damned; In Ribbons is objectively the best Pale Saints album—much, much better than The Comforts of Madness. The thing that killed the shoegaze movement was the fact that many bands thought all you had to do was step on effects pedals and find a pretty noise so you wouldn’t have to bother writing any… (read more)
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Moscow Olympics – “Cut the World” (2008)
Cut the World is modern, jangly, dreamy, twee pop reminiscent of similar-sounding ’80s indie pop bands, particularly The Wake. Seriously! If you like this, listen to Something That No One Else Could Bring, it’s practically the same thing (but better). Though derivative, Cut the World does that scene justice. Every song is good, and what it lacks… (read more)
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Moose – “…XYZ” (1992)
No shoegaze on …XYZ, despite what some will tell you. A lot of soft vocals and reverberating guitars (and string instruments!) may evoke a calming sea (well, more of a lake, here) of sound similar to shoegaze, but there’s no distorted or noisy guitars here, as far as I could tell. Maybe a small section… (read more)