My Bloody Valentine vs. Slowdive: the ultimate shoegaze band

As such, they have been consistently and rightly cited as the genre's defining acts. They are accompanied on lists of groundbreaking bands by varying names like Ride or Lush or even the Cocteau Twins, but never without each other. The genre has become almost synonymous with these two projects, with the titles of their groundbreaking releases, with the names of Kevin Shields and Rachel Goswell, but which band stands out as the ultimate shoegaze band?

There is definitely a lot going for both bands. Slowdive laid the foundation for the softer side of the genre, their sound somewhere between shoegaze and dream pop with Goswell's ethereal vocals and Neil Halstead's airy guitars. It's a style they showcased on their groundbreaking 1994 album Souvlaki, and one they still master today, as evidenced by Everything is alive last year.

Meanwhile, My Bloody Valentine pioneered a rougher form of shoegaze thanks to Shields' guitar style and their punkier roots. Loveless proved to be a little less pleasant to listen to than anything else in Slowdive's catalogue, as it traded ethereal escapism for something a little more confrontational. And as beautiful as Chickpeas was (and still is), it couldn't quite match the wall of sound that Shields and his band had created just a few years earlier.

With its relentless blur and hazy fuchsia artwork, Loveless became the defining release of the genre, despite nearly bankrupting Creation Records in the process. As a result, it had absolutely everything: droning and gliding guitars, disorienting swirls of distortion and delicate vocals that hovered just above it all. It sounded as thoughtful and nostalgic as ChickpeasHowever, his hypnotic atmosphere left far less room for maneuver and he was not afraid to drift into rougher, harder territory.

As Loveless became synonymous with shoegaze, just like Shields, Bilinda Butcher and My Bloody Valentine. The Irish band released only one more album after Loveless – 2013 mbv – but it didn't matter. They had shaped the genre as we know it, in all its fluffy, feathery glory, and then they had almost destroyed it when they pushed Creation, at enormous expense, to focus on Britpop. Even so, budding guitarists would point to Shields' use of the vibrato arm for years to come.

However, beyond the release and retrospective legacy of their groundbreaking records, My Bloody Valentine continues to maintain its place as the most important band in the shoegaze genre. Loveless And Chickpeas have each garnered more critical acclaim with the renewed interest in the genre, but it's the former that tends to take the title for the most important shoegaze record. It's a suitably shocking introduction to the genre for newcomers that retains its luster no matter how many times you play it through in its entirety.

Just as My Bloody Valentine's breakthrough release came before Slowdive's, so did their reunion. Over two decades after their last dose of fuzz, the band returned for the kind of self-titled mbv in 2013. Although it would never be quite as iconic as its predecessor, it was the perfect sequel, matching the volume and image of Loveless as best as he could. Since then, Shields has been waiting for the right time for a new album, re-releasing the hits while promising new material.

Slowdive reunited in 2017 with a self-titled album of their own that was as gentle and thoughtful as anything they had released in the 1990s. It received similarly stellar reviews and built on the work that had been done previously with gently reflective tracks like “Sugar for the Pill.” It was a beautiful album, much like their most recent offering, Everything is alivebut it would now fit just as well into the playlist of modern indie rockers as it would alongside the softer side of shoegaze.

This is perhaps where My Bloody Valentine differ from Slowdive. The latter were successful in creating a dreamy atmosphere and nostalgic songs suitable for the time when the sun comes up, but My Bloody Valentine's sound comes across in a very different way, uncompromising and initially uncomfortable. This distorted density, mixed with these lighter elements, makes them the defining band of the genre.

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