Wednesday, March 4, 2009

she asked me if i would ever fall.

Skywave are an amazing group from the 90's and early 2000's. Hailing from Fredericksburg, VA, they helped the resurrection of shoegaze in the United States. Every time some type of "shoegaze" is mentioned there is talk of derivation from The Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, but Skywave definitely carve out their own place.

In terms of albums, I am partial to Took the Sun (1998). Each song is mesmerizing with its perfectly placed feedback, dissonance, and accentuating percussion. The guitars are layered with complexities and add so much to each track while the vocals work well to set an emotional tone. Not one song sounds the same as the one before it, but there is an innate cohesiveness to the album. In addition to the below song, I highly recommend "Walking on Stars" and "Sanddune".

"Sixteen" -


The music is still alive, the bassist went on to form A Place To Bury Strangers. They come off as a bit more abrasive to me, but are still very very good. Ceremony, another solid effort, came from two other members. I just can't help but keep a little special place in my heart for Skywave.

1 comment:

K said...

they used to soundcheck at 1/2 volume and then BLAST the sound when they actually played. soundguys really hated this band.