Spoils System is a New York-based band formed in 2021 by Dan Coutant (vocals, guitar, keys), Sean Hansen (guitar, background vocals), David Fateman (bass), and Mark Frankel (drums). They are known for their melodic and often discordant indie rock, drawing on influences from their past work in the emo band Joshua (Doghouse Records). The band is gearing up to release their sophomore LP on Sweet Cheatah Records in summer 2025.

Hotline TNT is a New York based noise-pop band that play their own brand of melodic shoegaze and grunge pop combined with elements of dream-pop and loud fuzzed out anthemic alternative rock. Laying out sheets of buzzy guitar sounds over simple, forceful melodies, Hotline TNT take their shoegaze influences and meld them with a pop undertow and personal lyrics about life and relationships. Founded and led by guitarist and songwriter Will Anderson (of former band Weed), the group started as a one-man-band in the studio, with Anderson calling all the shots, and expanding into a quartet or quintet on-stage. Anderson established Hotline TNT's sound and style with the 2021 indie release Nineteen in Love, and made their music sound bigger and bolder on 2023's Cartwheel, their debut for Third Man Records. Now the band is back with "Rasberry Moon" their first album built as a full band and follow up LP to 2023s Cartwheel set for release June of 2025 via Third Man Records.

Dead History is a Minneapolis-based emo/post-hardcore quintet, whose members include stalwarts of the formative emo/hardcore years in various scenes across the Upper Midwest. Their sound unapologetically pays homage to the likes of Quicksand, Texas is the Reason, Hum, Far, Jawbox, Swervedriver and Sparkmarker among others. They released their self titled LP in 2020 and will release their sophomore LP "Departures" in June 2025.

Keep is an alternative rock band from Richmond, VA that was formed in 2013 and who's sound is heavily rooted in shoegaze, dream pop, 80s new wave, and 90s inspired alternative rock. They are heavily influenced by the likes of The Cure, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Slowdive, but that only scratches the surface. In a review of their second album, Happy In Here, it is stated that “even with these comparisons and any accuracy they could possess, Keep are a band that’s not only cut their own sort of path, but have become quite seasoned at it.” Their music has spanned a number of genres over the years, but most often falls under the banner of shoegaze. Regardless of specific distinctions, Keep sits firmly in the web of alternative rock music. Audiotree aptly described the sound as “grand and majestic”, adding that it is “ensconced in an all consuming mist of heavy noise.” The band is gearing up to release their new LP "Almost Static" in May of 2025.

Oversize, an alternative rock band from Salisbury UK, formed in late 2019 blending influences from 90's Indie, Emo, Grunge, Shoegaze, and Britpop. They released their debut EP "In Balance" in 2021 and are set to follow up with the EP "Into the Ceiling" in late 2022.

Heaven is a New York City-based band formed in 2010 by Mikey Jones (drums), who played with the Big Sleep and Swervedriver, and Matt Sumrow (vocals/guitars) of Dean & Britta and the Comas. After a stint playing in Adam Franklin's backing band, Bolts of Love, the pair came together, along with Fan-Tan's Ryan Lee Dunlap (keyboards), to create a drifting and dense sound that falls somewhere between the worlds of melodic dream pop and shoegaze. Heaven debuted their psychedelic blend in 2013 with their first full-length, Telepathic Love, released on Goodnight Records followed by "All Love is Blue" in 2018. The band will return with their 3rd LP and 1st in over 7 years in April of 2024. RIYL: Swervedriver, The Lemondheads, Teenage Fanclub

Kestrels are a dreamy and jangly noise-pop band from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada incorporating elements of classic 90s shoegaze, dreampop, and jangly indie rock/pop with big melodies and hooks.

Highspire was a shoegaze staple of the early 2000’s international shoegaze scene via early internet music sites, filesharing, and releases on compilations like Losing Today Magazine, Tonevendor, Vinyl Junkie, Alison Records, even Club AC30’s first release.

In 2004, legendary shoegaze label of the time Clairecords released their debut album "Your Everything" to much acclaim. With most shoegaze-centric outlets of the time naming it the best shoegaze album of the year, and even making KEXP’s John in the Mornings top 10 albums of 2004.

Alex White & EJ Hagen joined Australian Neo-Psych band the Morning After Girls for half a decade in 2008. In between tours, they recorded their 2nd album "Aquatic" in 2010. "Aquatic" also garnered many top shoegaze album of 2010 accolades of the time.

The latest incarnation of the band features Laura Watling (The Autocollants, Tears Run Rings), John Loring (Fleeting Joys), drummer Kory Gable, and original drummer Guyton Sanders. Their long-awaited third album, "Crushed," sees the band take it up a notch. With everyone involved saying it’s their best album yet. John Loring also mixed, mastered, and co-produced the album. 

"Crushed" will be released on Shelflife Records July 11, 2025 on 2 vinyl variants (Oilslick Nautilus & Orange Crushed) as well as CD. RIYL:

My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, Ride, Glare, Nothing, Greet Death, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart.

Greet Death, from Flint, Michigan, is a four piece shoegaze band filled with sludge and melancholy. Since 2011, elementary school friends Logan Gaval and Harper Boyhtari have been writing songs full of big ideas and everyday details. Their music, loud and full of melodic sensibility, draws from shoegaze, doomgaze, and a little-bit-of-everything-gaze, creating an emotionally maximalist palette. Writing separately but playing together (think of them as small-town Michigan’s Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus), they’ve been drawing in a devoted crowd ever since their unexpectedly successful debut Dixieland in 2017, followed by their next-level opus New Hell in 2019. You’d be hard-pressed to find albums with such heart: ones flooded both with full-bloom feelings and the dumb stories we tell ourselves in order to get through the day. The band is currently signed to Deathwish Inc. and are gearing up to release their 3rd LP "Die In Love" in June 2025.

Hailing from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Downward offers an inspiring take on alternative, emo, shoegaze, and post-hardcore influences to create a unique sonic experience with no boundaries. They've released a self-titled debut LP in 2018, followed by a two-track 7" in 2020 and an outstanding EP titled "The Brass Tax" in 2022 and a split EP with Trauma Ray in 2024. Their latest work, a sophomore self-titled album (LP2), showcases the band's evolution and commitment to pushing genre boundaries, with a mix of light and airy elements combined with powerful and emotive sounds, showcasing their place as a standout force in modern alternative music. The band continues to tow the line between what is seemingly light and airy (reminiscent of Radiohead) and at the same time beautifully crushing (akin to modern luminaries Nothing).

RIYL Moving Mountains, Gleemer, Keep, Trauma Ray, Nothing, All Under Heaven.

Bedridden is a sludgy shoegaze band based in Brooklyn led by singer/songwriter/guitarist Jack Riley who draw inspiration from the loud and fuzzed out alternative guitar rock of the 90s. Bedridden began in New Orleans when Riley was in college, where he enlisted bassist Sebastian Duzian and drummer Nicholas Pedroza to form a live band. The initial lineup shared their debut EP, Amateur Heartthrob in 2023, which includes fan-favorite songs like “Clara’s Mouth” and “Soft Soap.” Now a Brooklyn-based project, the trio recently added guitarist Wesley Wolffe to the mix and are gearing up for the release of their debut LP via Julia's War Recordings, for fans of Narrow Head, Hum, Smashing Pumpkins

Fort Collins, CO based band Gleemer mixes indie / alt rock with dream pop, shoegaze and a splash of emo. The band is heavily influenced by the melodic guitar rock sounds from the 90s and is centered around Corey Coffman's layered and fuzzy guitar tones and melancholy vocal delivery. The band has released 4 full length LP's and 2 EPs, all of which are consistent while offering something new to their sound. The band is signed to Other People Records and are now gearing up to release their 5th LP in December 2024. Fans of Balance and Composure, Death Cab for Cutie, DIIV, Cloakroom and newer bands like Downward and Glare will enjoy Gleemer.

Rocket is an indie rock band formed in Los Angeles in 2021, known for their 90s-inspired sound with influences from shoegaze and alt-rock. The band consists of Alithea Tuttle (bass, vocals), Baron Rinzler (guitar), Cooper Ladomade (drums), and Desi Scaglione (guitar). They draw inspiration from bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, The Pixies, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr., The Flaming Lips, Yo La Tengo, and Radiohead.

Doom Mutual unifies the musical endeavors of Nashville-based musicians Daphne Browdy and Davis Gestiehr, constructing familiar but eccentrically fascinating rock qualities. Doom Mutual is the individuals’ creative styles working in parallel with one another, ultimately generating a solid foundation of brooding lyricism and impressionable delivery.

Dark, heavy, and thoughtful, SOM craft songs of epic melancholy. Featuring members of Caspian, founding members of seminal Boston space rock outfit Constants, as well as Denver post-metal voyagers Adai, and former members of Caspian and Junius, SOM build thunderous rhythms that give drive and pulse to the fuzzed-out wall-of-synth-and-guitar- noise, complemented by memorable hooks and melodies in singer/guitarist Will Benoit’s somber, lamenting vocals. The band is known for seamlessly combining elements of shoegaze, post-metal, doom, and dream pop and are signed to Pelagic Records. They have released 2 full length LPs and are gearing up for the release of their 3rd LP "Let The Light In" due spring of 2025. RIYL: Deftones, Holy Fawn, Astronoid, Spotlights, Mew

Glare is an American shoegaze band from the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, founded in 2017 inspired by 90s shoegaze and alt-rock greats like Slowdive, Drop Nineteens and Smashing Pumpkins. In 2017, they released their debut songs "Into Me" and "Blank" followed by the "Void In Blue" and "Do Not Enter" singles in 2018. In 2021, they released their debut EP Heavenly via Sunday Drive Records. Their long awaited debut LP will see release in spring of 2025 and will feature previously released single Mourning Haze and newly released single Guts. RIYL: Trauma Ray, DIIV, Whirr, Fake Eyes and all things dreampop/shoegaze.