Editing Shoegaze (section)

==Characteristics==
{{listen|
 |filename    = Soon.ogg
 |title       = "Soon"
 |description = "Soon", from the 1991 album ''[[Loveless (My Bloody Valentine album)|Loveless]]'' by [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]], features a dance-oriented beat behind three tracks of [[Kevin Shields]]' "[[glide guitar]]".}}

Shoegaze genre combines ethereal, swirling vocals with layers of [[guitar distortion|distorted]], bent, or [[flanging|flanged]] guitars,<ref name="xlr8r">Patrick Sisson, "[http://www.xlr8r.com/features/2009/01/vapour-trails-revisiting-shoegaz Vapour Trails: Revisiting Shoegaze] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022112538/http://www.xlr8r.com/features/2009/01/vapour-trails-revisiting-shoegaz |date=October 22, 2014 }}", XLR8R no. 123, December 2008</ref> creating a wash of sound where no instrument is distinguishable from another.<ref name="all_music" /> The genre was typically "overwhelmingly loud, with long, droning riffs, waves of distortion, and cascades of feedback. Vocals and melodies disappeared into the walls of guitars."<ref name="all_music" /> According to ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'', "emotionally, shoegaze turns its focus inward. The extreme noise eliminates the possibility of socializing while the music is playing, leaving each member of the audience alone with their thoughts. It's music for dreaming."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pitchfork |date=2016-10-24 |title=The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9966-the-50-best-shoegaze-albums-of-all-time/ |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref>

Early UK shoegaze was heavily influenced by American bands such as [[Dinosaur Jr.]], [[Hüsker Dü|Husker Du]] and [[Sonic Youth]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Earles |first=Andrew |title=Gimme Indie Rock |publisher=Voyager Press |year=2014 |pages=189}}</ref>