Rachel Goswell, one of Slowdive’s two singers, has cool hair. It is dyed half black and half white, and by the end of this show I had a feeling it might have been trying to tell us something. Slowdive broke up in 1995 having made three albums. They reunited in 2014 and have since made two more. Can we spot the join tonight between the two eras? I think we can.

When they first arrived on an independent music scene still subordinate to the critical whims of Melody Maker and NME, Slowdive were not exactly beloved. Back in the early 1990s they were more or less the whipping boys and girls of what was known as ‘shoegaze’. Woozy and dream-like, the ethereal vocals backed by a gauzy swoon of treated guitars, the aura of somewhat fey ennui and a diffident stage demeanour didn’t necessarily endear them to battle-hardened music scribes as the more exuberant Britpop hordes barrelled into view. Hence, ‘shoegazing’, a term of dismissive disdain for middle-class mopers such as Slowdive. They hailed from Reading. Case closed.

Back in the 1990s, Slowdive were the whipping boys and girls of what was known as ‘shoegaze’

Time has turned much of that on its head. Slowdive’s second album, Souvlaki, received with shrugged indifference at the time of its release, is now highly regarded; they play half of it at the show. Back then, Slowdive seemed derivative of several bands. Now, many younger artists reference them as influences. As for gazing at one’s shoes – they are still not, perhaps, the most dynamic bunch in the world, but there is a kind of theatre to their stage presence. With her armfuls of bangles, blissed-out beam and swaying dance moves, Goswell comes over as the shoegazers’ Stevie Nicks. Co-vocalist, guitarist and chief songwriter Neil Halstead – wearing a big ol’ baseball hat, cream suit jacket and an enviable moustache – could be auditioning for a 1970s trucker band.

QOSHE - Twisted, fuzzy, psychedelic pop: Slowdive, at the Liquid Room, reviewed - Graeme Thomson
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Twisted, fuzzy, psychedelic pop: Slowdive, at the Liquid Room, reviewed

4 5
29.02.2024

Rachel Goswell, one of Slowdive’s two singers, has cool hair. It is dyed half black and half white, and by the end of this show I had a feeling it might have been trying to tell us something. Slowdive broke up in 1995 having made three albums. They reunited in 2014 and have since made two more. Can we spot the join tonight between the two eras? I think we can.

When they first arrived on an independent music scene still subordinate to the critical whims of Melody Maker........

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