Last month when Asobi Seksu visited KEXP, I mentioned on Facebook that I was watching their in-studio performance. One of my friends responded by asking not, “Who is Asobi Seksu?”, but rather, “What is shoegazing?” — a question that I thought perhaps many people would have. Hence the first in this series of articles, Know Your Subgenres.

Like many subgenres of rock, shoegazing originated as a label slapped by the music press on a small group of bands who happened to develop a similar sound at the same time. In this case, the bands were based in London and the Thames Valley region of England, and the label was a slightly derisive reference to their performance style, as the guitarists tended to stand motionless and stare down at their effects pedals. Although not the first to be called shoegazers, My Bloody Valentine built upon the influential style of the Cocteau Twins and The Jesus and Mary Chain to create the seminal shoegazing sound. The label was first applied to a band called Moose, following in My Bloody Valentine’s footsteps, and then extended back to My Bloody Valentine and associated acts. Other prominent bands from this era associated with shoegazing included Ride, Lush, and Slowdive.

The bands had good reason to focus on the effects pedals, as the shoegazing style uses distortion, delay, and echo on the guitar parts to create a shimmering wall of sound. Vocals tend to be subsumed into the mix as well, used as part of the overall soundscape, and the lyrics though present are usually unintelligible and almost irrelevant. However, the music is not wispy and ambient but rather heavy and driving, often with a strong melodic line running beneath the guitar washes. “Only Shallow,” from the defining album Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, amply demonstrates this style.

The first heyday of shoegazing was in the late ‘80s to mid-‘90s; as many of the founding shoegazers broke up, the explosion of grunge in the U.S. and Britpop in the U.K. overwhelmed the style’s presence in the music scene. However, no good musical style is ever completely forgotten, and today a new set of bands continue to take inspiration from the sounds of 20 years ago. Among these bands are Airiel, Film School, and the aforementioned Asobi Seksu. Although Asobi Seksu’s latest album, Hush, has moved more toward an open dreampop sound, the shoegazing influence can be clearly heard in such songs as “Red Sea” from their 2006 release, Citrus.

Not all the original shoegazers are gone, either. In fact, My Bloody Valentine reunited in 2007, and are playing this Monday evening at the WaMu Theater in Seattle at 8 PM (doors at 6:30). You can read our interview with Kevin Shields in which he discusses the reunion here. Also by coincidence, Asobi Seksu will be in town, so if you missed when they were here last month, you can catch them this Tuesday at Neumos, opening for Yann Tiersen (doors at 8 PM).