After a five year hiatus Indiana-based Shoegaze/Indie rock band Cloakroom has released their new concept album, “Dissolution Wave.” The album tells the story of a space western and helps facilitate a conversation about just what exactly Shoegaze is. The name shoegaze, often intermingled with dream pop, was originally called shoe-gazing, and got its name from the guitar players consistent staring at their pedal board on the ground, which controls the effects in the song. Shoegaze is very heavily guitar based and ethereal in nature, often combining effects like distortion, reverb, and delay to create a massive soundscape with a single instrument. Often times these effects are so expansive that they interfere with, or overtake, the vocals of the song.
Shoegaze is a genre that is not dependent upon expensive recording equipment, fancy gear, or top notch producers. It can flourish with the most basic of recording and instrument equipment because quality is not the biggest objective. The biggest objective of shoegaze is to use effects such as reverb to delay to create a feeling. These effects can often change how one perceives a song. The first song on the album, “Lost Meaning,” opens with a heavy, distorted guitar riff paired with slow vocals. This song comes off much more intense than the second song on the album, the albums title track, “Dissolution Wave.” This songs ethereal reverb and delay heavy guitar pairs with lackadaisical vocals to create a feeling similar to being in a trance. To tell the story of this space western, the band has cleverly used effects to communicate the mood of the song, and by proxy the part of the story they are addressing.
A Community Audio Journal