{{Short description|2000s microgenre}} {{use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Shitgaze | other_names = | image = | caption = | stylistic_origins = * Noise rock * indie rock * slacker rock * garage rock * lo-fi * garage punk * noise pop * DIY | cultural_origins = {{Circa|2005}}, Columbus, Ohio and Los Angeles, California | other_topics = *Shoegaze *pigfuck *blog rock *indie surf *no-fi *post-noise *internet rock }}
'''Shitgaze''' is a microgenre of rock music and scene coined in 2005 by Kevin DeBroux of Pink Reason to describe the music of Midwestern rock band Psychedelic Horseshit from Columbus, Ohio. Lead singer Matt Whitehurst added the term to the band's Myspace page, where it became the tag for a "Columbus-centric genre". It was then adopted by the music press and used to describe bands with a similar aesthetic from other locations, such as Los Angeles.
The independent record label Siltbreeze became a central hub for the scene, along with the Columbus music venue Cafe Bourbon Street. Whitehurst cites the ''NME's'' feature on shitgaze as what "made it into a scene". The style was characterized by its use of lo-fi production, guitar feedback, fuzz pedals, audio clipping and distorted sounds.
Notable acts include Psychedelic Horseshit, the Hospitals, No Age,<ref>{{Cite web |title=No Age : Everything In Between |url=https://qromag.com/no_age_everything_in_between/ |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=QRO Magazine |date=November 11, 2010 |language=en-US}}</ref> Times New Viking,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mallett |first=Whitney |date=2008-11-10 |title=When a band and another band love each other very much |url=https://www.mcgilldaily.com/2008/11/when_a_band_and_another_band_love_each_other_very_much/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=The McGill Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> Wavves, Grave Babies, Sic Alps,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=NME |date=2012-09-07 |title=Sic Alps – 'Sic Alps' |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-various-artists-13653-324367 |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref> Vivian Girls,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Colly |first=Joe |title=Vivian Girls: Everything Goes Wrong |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13395-everything-goes-wrong/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> Sealings, Best Coast,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last1=Interviews |first1=Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & |last2=Murray |first2=Robin |date=2010-06-09 |title=Best Coast Confirm Debut Album |url=https://www.clashmusic.mtcserver.com/news/best-coast-confirm-debut-album/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Best Coast: Where the Boys Are {{!}} Records |url=https://cokemachineglow.com/records/bestcoast-wheretheboysare-2009/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Cokemachineglow}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Best Coast's Sophomore LP to Be Produced by Jon Brion │ Exclaim! |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/best_coasts_sophomore_lp_to_be_produced_by_jon_brion |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Best Coast's Sophomore LP to Be Produced by Jon Brion │ Exclaim! |language=en}}</ref> Meth Teeth, Pink Reason, the Bitters, Eat Skull, the Intelligence, Gang Wizard, Ty Segall, and P.H.F.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oliver |first=Henry |date=2018-12-21 |title=The definitive, very best New Zealand music of 2018 |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/partner/21-12-2018/the-definitive-very-best-new-zealand-music-of-2018 |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=The Spinoff |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-03-12 |title=Psychedelic Horseshit destroy shitgaze |url=https://imposemagazine.com/bytes/new-music/psychedelic-horseshit-destroy-s |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=IMPOSE Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Characteristics == [[File:Times New Viking, Pittsburgh, 2011.jpg|thumb|Times New Viking in Pittsburgh, 2011]] Shitgaze has been referred to as a "microgenre".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marcus |first=Ezra |date=2017-05-12 |title=Wave Music Is a Marketing Tactic, Not a Microgenre |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/wave-music-marketing-tactic-microgenre/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Artists primarily made use of "sub-par equipment," and were built around a low budget DIY and lo-fi aesthetic,<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=I Miss Shitgaze, Man |url=https://floodmagazine.com/141620/i-miss-shitgaze-man/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=FLOOD |language=en}}</ref> while drawing influence from garage punk, noise pop, and noise rock.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Terich |first=Jeff |date=2015-01-05 |title=Blurred Lines: On the evolution of genre |url=https://www.treblezine.com/20809-blurred-lines-evolution-of-genre/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Treble |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Marin |first=Francisco |title=Math-rockers play Austin; lo-fi lies low |url=https://thedailytexan.com/2011/02/22/math-rockers-play-austin-lo-fi-lies-low/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=The Daily Texan}}</ref><ref name="AnatomySpin2" /> Additionally, artists primarily gained popularity through early music blogs and online music forums within the emerging blog rock movement.<ref name=":02"/>
According to ''Spin'' magazine, "Everything these bands record is spiked in the red and cloaked in caustic fuzz. Vocals are intelligible every so often, and snare hits resemble chopsticks on tinfoil. You could say Psychedelic Horseshit’s bass drum sounds like a cardboard box…'cause it is." While further stating that, "Underneath all that hissy static and garbled vocals are well-crafted albeit primitive songs. 'Devo & Wine,' and '(My Head)' are not too far removed from the output of fellow Ohioans Guided by Voices."<ref name="AnatomySpin2" />
== Etymology == {{See also|Blog rock}}
The term ''shitgaze'' is a portmanteau of "shoegaze" coined by Kevin DeBroux of Pink Reason in 2005 as an "inside-joke" to describe the music of the Midwestern rock band Psychedelic Horseshit, he later became the bassist for the band.<ref name="AnatomySpin2">{{cite magazine |last=Oliphint |first=Joel |date=June 2008 |title=Anatomy of a Scene – Sh*tgaze |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I8dEa7CkvDwC&dq=shitgaze&pg=PA44 |magazine=Spin |page=44}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Masters |first=Marc |date=2009-09-14 |title=The Decade in Noise |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/7702-the-decade-in-noise/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Sherburne |first=Philip |date=2021-10-07 |title=25 Microgenres That (Briefly) Defined the Last 25 Years |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/microgenres-25th-anniversary/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dazed |date=2008-09-12 |title=Psychedelic Horseshit Write Messy Drug Songs |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/975/1/psychedelic-horseshit-write-messy-drug-songs |access-date=2026-01-17 |website=Dazed |language=en}}</ref> In a 2008 interview with ''Spin'' magazine, DeBroux remarked: "We were sitting around stoned listening to the Psychedelic Horseshit album, and I knew Matt [Whitehurst] was into ['90s U.K] shoegaze stuff, [...] I'm like, 'Man, this isn't shoegaze; this is shitgaze."<ref name="AnatomySpin2" />
According to ''Spin'', "Whitehurst stuck the word up on Horseshit's Myspace page, and it became the tag for a Columbus-centric genre, though it's also becoming an umbrella term for other lo-fi Midwesterners such as Tyvek and TV Ghost".<ref name="AnatomySpin2" /> In a 2011 interview with ''the Quietus'', Matt Whitehurst of Psychedelic Horseshit stated:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Millard |first=Zachary Lipez & Drew |date=2015-12-14 |title=The Definitive Guide to Hipster Music Genres |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/hw-the-definitive-guide-to-hipster-music-genres-hipster-week/ |access-date=2026-01-17 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Quietus |first=The |date=2011-06-07 |title=Dancing Is Better Than Chin Stroking: Psychedelic Horseshit Interviewed |url=https://thequietus.com/interviews/psychedelic-horseshit-interview-laced/ |access-date=2026-01-17 |website=The Quietus |language=en-GB}}</ref> {{Blockquote|text=It started off as a joke. I had a test of our first album that I was playing in the car and me and my friend Kevin [DeBroux] – who is in a band called Pink Reason – were listening to it. I was saying 'this is the shoegaze song' and he said 'yeah, but it is a really shit version of shoegaze. It is totally shitgaze.' It was a joke and I put it on MySpace and then NME wrote an article and made it into a scene. They found these bands that had similar sounds and wrote a feature. Then all these other publications took off with it as well. The next thing you know, Spin magazine and MTV were talking about shitgaze and coming to Columbus to interview us. It was so ridiculous. Honestly, it was just a joke – two stoners driving down the road.}}
The term became associated first with a specific music scene in Columbus, Ohio due to Psychedelic Horseshit, along with fellow shitgaze act Times New Viking, both having formed there.<ref name="AnatomySpin2" /> The term then saw prominence in the 2000s West Coast garage punk scene which included artists like Ty Segall, the Intelligence, Gang Wizard, and the Hospitals, the latter of which featured then Coachwhips guitarist John Dwyer.<ref name=":02"/> Subsequently underground music artists and bloggers further adopted the label.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Paul |title=Psychedelic Horseshit: Golden Oldies / Shitgaze Anthems |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13310-golden-oldies-shitgaze-anthems/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Masters |first=Marc |date=2009-09-14 |title=The Decade in Noise |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/7702-the-decade-in-noise/?page=2 |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2015, New York magazine ''The Fader'' stated that shitgaze sounded like "Heavily distorted no-fi guitar rock".<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Recent History of Microgenres |url=https://www.thefader.com/2015/10/08/timeline-history-of-music-microgenres-chillwave-cloud-rap-witch-house |access-date=2026-02-02 |website=The FADER |language=en}}</ref> In reflection, Beth Murphy, the keyboardist of Times New Viking stated, "I'd rather be called shitpop or tweecore".<ref name="AnatomySpin2" /><ref>{{cite magazine |date=August 2008 |title=Battleground State |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ul7jcf4HvN4C&pg=PA28&dq=%22anatomy%22+%22spin%22+%22shitgaze%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwidhJeropKSAxVQZ0EAHWIZEc8Q6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=%22anatomy%22%20%22spin%22%20%22shitgaze%22&f=false |magazine=SPIN |pages=28 |language=en}}</ref>
== History ==
=== Origins === [[File:Wavves 2012 Groovin The Moo 1.jpg|thumb|Wavves performing in 2012; their early material has been described as shitgaze.<ref name="auto12">{{Cite web |last=ZHU |first=JASMINE |date=2010-08-01 |title=Wavves rules the beach on new release |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/wavves-king-beach-green-label-sound/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |last=Mulvey |first=John |date=2009-05-28 |title=Wavves: "Wavvves" |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/wavves-wavvves-36597/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=UNCUT |language=en-GB}}</ref>]] According to ''Spin'' magazine, Times New Viking's ''Dig Yourself'' (2005) was the start of the shitgaze scene followed by ''Present the Paisley Reich'' (2007) and ''Rip It Off'' (2008), with vinyl being "the medium of choice for shitgazers".''<ref name="AnatomySpin2" />'' While citing other releases such as Psychedelic Horseshit's debut album, ''Magic Flowers Droned'' (2007) as "required listening" and Pink Reason's ''Cleaning the Mirror'' (2009) as "a more intimate and personal DIY gem."''<ref name="AnatomySpin2" />''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=Tim |date=2016-07-15 |title=Looking Back at Pink Reason's 'Cleaning the Mirror', a Bona Fide Downer Classic |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/looking-back-at-pink-reasons-cleaning-the-mirror-a-bona-fide-downer-classic/ |access-date=2026-01-17 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}</ref>
The Philadelphia independent record label Siltbreeze, founded in 1989, though initially associated with general underground music, experienced renewed interest through the emergence of shitgaze, and became a central hub for the movement during the mid-to late 2000s. Siltbreeze released many early shitgaze recordings by bands such as Vivian Girls, Psychedelic Horseshit, Eat Skull, Pink Reason and Times New Viking.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Eric T. |date=2009-01-17 |title=15 In Philly: Siltbreeze Records |url=https://magnetmagazine.com/2009/01/17/siltbreeze-records/ |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=Magnet Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Reviews |url=https://www.maximumrocknroll.com/review/label/siltbreeze/ |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Victim of Time Siltbreeze Catalog Overthrows Bottom of Hill in San Francisco Friday |url=http://www.victimoftime.com/articles/siltbreeze-catalog-overthrows-bottom-hill-san-fran/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627205021/http://www.victimoftime.com/articles/siltbreeze-catalog-overthrows-bottom-hill-san-fran/ |archive-date=2008-06-27 |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=www.victimoftime.com}}</ref> ''Spin'' described the "hub" of the scene as taking place in a Columbus venue known as Cafe Bourbon Street.<ref name="AnatomySpin2" />
San Diego rock band Wavves<ref>{{Cite web |last=Michel |first=Patrick St |date=2009-12-13 |title=Lo-Fi Sugar Rush: Puffy Shoes {{!}} Make Believe Melodies |url=https://makebelievemelodies.com/lo-fi-sugar-rush-puffy-shoes/,%20https://makebelievemelodies.com/lo-fi-sugar-rush-puffy-shoes/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=makebelievemelodies.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="auto12"/><ref name="auto2"/> are regarded as one of the most notable and commercially successful bands to emerge from the original shitgaze scene,<ref name=":02"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mattson |first=Jay |date=2010-06-30 |title=Wavves – King of the Beach (2010) – Obscure Sound |url=https://www.obscuresound.com/2010/06/wavves-king-of-the-beach-2010/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kornhaber |first=Spencer |date=2009-02-28 |title=Wavves, 'Wavvves' (Fat Possum) |url=https://www.spin.com/2009/02/wavves-wavvves-fat-possum/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Spin |language=en-US}}</ref> with the sound later proliferating and intertwining with bands like Best Coast.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Flavorwire |date=2009-11-02 |title=Best Coast, Washed Out, Pearl Harbour: Lo-Fi & Worth It |url=https://www.flavorwire.com/47025/best-coast-washed-out-pearl-harbour-theyre-lo-fi-theyre-worth-it |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Flavorwire |language=en}}</ref> Though the term was not coined online, music blogs and sites like ''Vice'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=John |date=2014-08-15 |title=Dreamcrusher Is a Queer, Black, Vegan Straight-Edge Noise Artist Who Is Never Changing |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/dreamcrusher-la-haine-premiere/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Vice |language=en-US}}</ref> ''Spin'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hogan |first=Marc |date=2013-05-02 |title=Watch MGMT Bash Out Another New Song Live, Reportedly 'Your Life Is a Lie' |url=https://www.spin.com/2013/05/mgmt-debut-your-life-is-a-lie-live-video/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Spin |language=en-US}}</ref> ''NME''<ref name=":2" /> and ''Pitchfork''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=Jeremy |title=Dead Gaze: Brain Holiday |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18624-dead-gaze-brain-holiday/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sisson |first=Patrick |title=Various Artists: Fuck Dance, Let's Art: Sounds From a New American Underground |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14712-fuck-dance-lets-art-sounds-from-a-new-american-underground/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> helped further popularize shitgaze through various articles and reviews during the late 2000s and early 2010s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harvell |first=Jess |title=Joker: "Digidesign" |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11400-digidesign/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Paul |title=Times New Viking: Born Again Revisited |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13525-born-again-revisited/ |access-date=2025-07-22 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":02"/>
In 2009, ''Pitchfork'' published a readers poll that ranked "Shitgaze/lo-fi aesthetics (Times New Viking, Wavves, Vivian Girls)" at number 2 on their list titled "Trend You Wish Would Go Away".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pitchfork |date=2010-01-04 |title=2009 Pitchfork Readers Poll |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/7748-2009-pitchfork-readers-poll/?page=3 |access-date=2026-01-17 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Decline === Shitgaze fell out of prominence in the mid-2010s as other blog-related music scenes like bloghouse, blog rock and blog rap declined due to the rise in online streaming algorithms.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fitzmaurice |first=Larry |date=2018-10-23 |title=How Indie Rock's Class of 2008 Changed the Music Industry |url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/10/how-indie-rocks-class-of-2008-changed-the-music-industry.html |access-date=2025-08-05 |website=Vulture |language=en}}</ref> Mike Lesuer of ''Flood magazine'' wrote that of the "subgenres that define the early-'10s, many of them can only be stumbled upon in 2023 by finding a Tumblr account that hasn't seen activity since the height of seapunk—which, like witch house, likely faded from memory because no one could think of a cooler name for it".<ref name=":02"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Barshad |first=Amos |title=Please Stop the Hyperpop—Musicians Are Resisting the Internet Micro-Genre |url=https://www.wired.com/story/hyperpop-end-internet-genres/ |access-date=2026-01-17 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>
== See also == * Pigfuck * Indie surf
==References== {{Reflist}}{{Shoegaze}}{{Rock music}}{{Alternative rock}}
Category:2000s in music Category:Alternative rock genres Category:Counterculture of the 2000s Category:Microgenres Category:21st-century music genres Category:Shitgaze Category:Internet music genres