Bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive opened up a whole new world between crushing heaviness and pop sensibility in the late 80s and early 90s. But the last 15 years brought forth an entirely new generation of shoegaze worshippers following their footsteps. Check out these records if you’re into beautiful, aching melancholy.
Words: Christina Wenig
Glare – Sunset Funeral
After years of building an immense following through intense live performances and single/EP releases, Glare finally offered their debut album Sunset Funeral to the world in 2025. The Texans effortlessly construct wide dreamscapes (with a subtle hardcore punch) that are both idyllic and filled with grief – offering transcendent, sublime experiences to those who dare to get lost in the nebulous vastness of their creation.
Nothing – A Short History Of Decay
Nothing was the band that got hardcore kids into shoegaze in the 2010s. Their first two albums Guilty Of Everything (2014) and Tired Of Tomorrow (2016) are classics in their own right by now, and their recent fifth album A Short History Of Decay (2026) further manifests them as one of the leading shoegaze revival bands walking a tightrope between heaviness and melancholy. Breakbeats, acoustic guitars, string and brass arrangements cut through the haziness of reverb and feedback, presenting a rawer, more fragile side of the band.
Whirr – Raw Blue
Whirr are one of the most influential shoegaze bands of the 2010s, but also one of the most divisive. It was the first band Kris Esfandiari (King Woman) sang in; guitarist Nick Bassett was not only an early member of Deafheaven but also played in Nothing for a while. But besides their music, the Californians were well-known for their antagonistic edgelord behavior online and in interviews, which reached its sad apogee in a transphobic tweet aimed at G.L.O.S.S. in 2015 – you can read all about it in this in-depth interview. Amid the fallout, Whirr disappeared. Having apparently (hopefully) learned their lesson, the band quietly released their fourth, beautifully somber album Raw Blue in late 2024, ringing in their live comeback after a decade spent in the shadows.
Greet Death – Die In Love
You might affiliate Deathwish Inc. with (post-)hardcore and metalcore bands, but their signing of Glare and Greet Death also proves the label has a nose for modern shoegaze. The post-rock-indie-slowcore mix of the Michigan natives’ third album Die In Love (2025) does not always hit you with the full fuzzy wall of sound; instead, it effortlessly oscillates between delicate melodies and distorted excess.
Glixen – Quiet Pleasures
Comfortably nestled in at the grunge/alternative end of the shoegaze spectrum, Arizona’s Glixen are on the fast track to becoming one of the big names within the scene. Their second EP Quiet Pleasures (2025) is a crushing offering of fuzzy, heavy guitars colliding with ethereal vocals, summoning up memories of My Bloody Valentine just as much as Nirvana and Cocteau Twins.
