# Shoegaze, slackers, ‘noise chasms’ and the 10-year reinvention of rock Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-3755187/shoegaze-slackers-noise-chasms-and-the-10-year-reinvention-of-rock Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-3755187/shoegaze-slackers-noise-chasms-and-the-10-year-reinvention-of-rock.md Podcast: [Word In Your Ear](https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-3755187) Published: 2026-05-19T13:08:30+00:00 Episode link: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/5ff0586154e2a73589267809/e/6a0c60cec7cb17aacef1cbbd/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/word-in-your-ear-3755187/episodes/shoegaze-slackers-noise-chasms-and-the-10-year-reinvention-of-rock Duration seconds: 2678 ## Resource A whole new age of psychedelia kicked off in the mid-‘80s, of dream-weavers and glorious underachievers, a complete rejection of the standard rock approach to stagecraft, sound and self-promotion. Simon Reynolds was at the heart of it, writing for Melody Maker and piping aboard the pioneering noise-mongers aiming to entrance and disorientate, as recalled in his new book ‘Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers and the Reinvention of Rock 1984-1994’. He looks back with us here from his home in Los Angeles at its key bands, events and spiritual godfathers, these among them …   … the return to childhood via Syd Barrett and Jonathan Richman to Sarah Records    … is ‘feeble little horse’ the most Shoegaze band name ever?    ... what it was about Morrissey that made Smiths singles sink after Top Of The Pops    … the reason Bowie formed a band    … charming/infuriating interviews with the Cocteau Twins: “words only have any meaning when they’re sung”   … how Britpop brought down the curtain of the wall of sound     … Shoegaze, Dreampop, Lovelynoise, Wide-Brimmed Hat Music and the rock press attempt to impose order: “if a band was on the cover they could double their fee”    ... the divine arrogance of Lawrence of Felt who “didn’t want ordinary people buying my records”   … the ever-extending “noise chasms” of My Bloody Valentine   …  “shattering quartz”: reviewing music that’s about sound not words    … Shoegaze DNA in the 21st Century   ... and the greatest album of that decade, “each track like a session beer”.   Order copies of ‘Still In a Dream’ here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/still-in-a-dream/simon-reynolds/9781399618373 Help us to keep The Longest Conti… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/word-in-your-ear-3755187/episodes/shoegaze-slackers-noise-chasms-and-the-10-year-reinvention-of-rock/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-3755187/shoegaze-slackers-noise-chasms-and-the-10-year-reinvention-of-rock.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.