A Shoreline Dream - Recollections of Memory

Rating

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RIYL

Slowdive
My Bloody Valentine
Ride
Silversun Pickups

Release Date

02/10/2009

Tracklist

01. Manhattan Beach
02. Hypermode
03. Seattle
04. Departure
05. The Night Before
06. NeverChanger
07. Mid Decembers
08. The Missing
09. Interlusion
10. Pasadena

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Recent Ratings

The shoegaze genre can often fall into the same mishaps as post-rock: as much as the music is pretty and nice, it's often safe and uninspiring, lacking originality, and aping the genre's big name stalwarts. A Shoreline Dream are classic shoegaze and unfortunately fall into the above trap.

Clearly influenced by the big shoegaze giants of yesteryear - Ride, Slowdive, and My Bloody Valentine - A Shoreline Dream play a modern take of these bands (some may say falling into 'nu-gazer', ughh), but are soaked in a modern production job. The band make perfect music to relax to, there's no doubting that, but where so many shoegaze / dream pop bands go wrong is that they mostly never really concentrate on, or bother with, any actual song-craft or structure.  Instead they just make angelic pieces of music which segue together in a beautifully hypnotic and relaxing monotony. 

On Recollections of Memory, the band's second full length, we're treated to track after track of the same fuzzy waves of ambiance which bustle and crash around in a dense and reverbed atmosphere.  Aside from “Mid Decembers” which features some Cure-like guitar work and “The Night Before” which is a nice acoustic ditty, there isn't much here that detours from that samey thick-layered sound or anything that will really prick your attention or cause you to concentrate on specifics. Really, that's half the problem with the entire genre – shoegaze albums tend not to be particularly engaging listens: there's no post rock teasing, no crescendos or startling sforzandos... just 4 minute pieces of dreamy, ethereal fuzz. On the one hand this may sound like a negative point, but on the other,  if you're wanting to drift off it's the perfect music to let yourself go and indulge yourself in.

--Rich Taylor

Author

Rich
Last updated: 09/29/2009 09:04PM

Comments

explodinginsound
04/10/2009
07:23AM
Age: 27
Location
Brooklyn, NY

good review, im checking them out right now, sounds good to me

www.explodinginsound.com

Rick Gebhardt
04/10/2009
07:33AM
Age: 31
Location
Minnesota

I find I never "actively" listen to shoegaze.  I love to use it as background music for when I'm doing other stuff or when people are over.

Find me EVERYWHERE:

Rich
04/10/2009
08:30AM
Age: 26
Location
Leeds, England
Rick Gebhardt

I find I never "actively" listen to shoegaze.  I love to use it as background music for when I'm doing other stuff or when people are over.

Yeah, that's exactly it.

I think Klimt 1918's last release pretty much nailed it on how to make a solid shoegaze record.

lpshinobi
04/12/2009
07:03PM
Age: 23
Location
VT

There's a few good tracks on this album ("Seattle" and "Mid Decembers" are my faves), but besides those it's not really all that memorable.

My Top Songs of '09
The Appleseed Cast//as the little things go
Caspian//sycamore
Sunwrae//Chinook Winds
Dredg//down to the seller
If These Trees Could Talk//the sun is in the north
From Monument to Masses//an ounce of prevention
Straylight Run//i'm through with the past


LpShinobi's Post-Rock and Shoegazing Recommendation, via YouTube

Lpshinobi's Post-Rock Band, New Song Posted