November 4, 2022

Wichita

1xLP

Rounding out the podium of the canonized “Greatest Shoegaze albums of all time”, next to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless and Slowdive’s Souvlaki, is Ride’s Nowhere. The cavernous drum-sound, and reverb-flooded guitars and vocals you’ll find here mark some of the trademarks of the genre and are as synonymous with shoegaze as loudly-patterned sweaters and bowl cuts. Ride differentiated themselves from peers like MBV by focusing more on melody than sonics, there is lots of noise here but it’s all done in the service of the songs here. Take the closing track “Vapour Trail” for example, built around a simple guitar part that evolves into a wall of noise and ending in an achingly beautiful violin part. That’s the record in a nutshell there,