The Critical Kicking of Slowdive ("When The Sun Hits") | New British Canon

There was a time when the British Music Press had absolute power. Punk, C86, Madchester, Grunge, Britpop, and The New Rock Revolution were all invented and made famous within the pages of NME, Sounds and Melody Maker. But trends are fickle. Once the press got bored of a certain sound or scene, they quickly moved on to the next one, viciously mocking what they were promoting weeks before. Many bands’ careers ended prematurely.
Slowdive had approximately six months of next-big-thing write-ups and glowing praise before they were exiled. In came Grunge and Shoegaze was suddenly not cool. For the rest of their initial three album run, they were critically kicked, punched and spat on by journalists. They were the enemy of the NME, and deemed monstrous by Melody Maker. Despite creating some of the most beautiful euphoric music of the 1990s, they were the most hated indie band in Britain. This is New British Canon, and this is the Story of “When The Sun Hits.”
#Slowdive #Shoegaze #MusicDocumentary
Fact-checking by Chad Van Wagner.
Soundtrack
Luar - Citrine ( / luarbeats )
Jesse Gallagher - The Golden Present
Luar - Anchor ( / luarbeats )
00:00 Introduction
01:05 The Start of Slowdive & The Rise & Fall of Shoegaze
10:10 Recording Souvlaki: "40 Days and I Still Miss You"
21:30 Further Backlash & Pygmalion
25:59 The Re-Evaluation of Slowdive
Slowdive Souvlaki Pitchfork Classic (2015) dir. Michael Garber
The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes are Hungry for the Prize by David Cavanagh, 2000, Faber
Just For a Day Liner Notes, Ian Watson, 2005
Souvlaki Liner Notes, Ian Watson, 2005
Pygmalion Liner Notes, Ian Watson, 2005
“Slowdive: Falling and Laughing” Paul Lester, Melody Maker, Dec 1990
“The Right Kind of Slow” Simon Williams, NME, Feb 1991
“Slowdive: Younger than Yesterday” Bob Stanley, Melody Maker, Mar 1991
“Dive Bomb” Paul Lester, Melody Maker, Aug 1991
“It’s all atmosphere with us” Andrew Collins, NME, Sep 1991
“Manic Street Preachers: The Newport Dolls” Andrew Collins, NME, Nov 1991
“Whatever Happened to Shoegazing?” Paul Lester, Melody Maker, Sep 1992
“Slowdive: Souvlaki” John Mulvey, NME, May 1993
“Pitta and Twisted” Dele Fadele, NME, Jun 1993
“Slowdive: Souvlaki” Dave Simpson, Melody Maker, Jun 1993
"Slowdive: Pygmalion" John Harris, NME Feb 1995
“Mojave 3 - Interview Part 1” Anthony Strutt, Pennyblack Music, Jul 2004
“Mojave 3 - Interview Part 2” Anthony Strutt, Pennyblack Music, Aug 2004
“Slowdive - Interview” Anthony Strutt, Pennyblack Music, Jun 2005
“Diamond Gazers: Shoegaze” Jude Rogers, The Guardian, Jul 2007
“Interview: Simon Scott of Slowdive, Televise, The Charlottes, Seavault, and Lowgold.” Asa Eisenhardt, When The Sun Hits, Oct 2011
“Slowdive: The Band That Celebrates Itself Again” Lukas Hodges, Noisey, Feb 2014
“Slowdive on Their Reunion, “Souvlaki,” Creation Records, “Pygmalion,” and Shoegazing” Austin Trunick, Under The Radar, Aug 2014
“WTSH Interviews Neil Halstead & Simon Scott of SLOWDIVE.” Asa Eisenhardt, When The Sun Hits, Aug 2014
“Interview: Slowdive’s Simon Scott on the Rebirth of the Influential Shoegaze Group” Hanna Bächer, Red Bull Academy, Sep 2014
“The unlikely renaissance of Slowdive: ‘Shoegaze became the genre of ridicule’” Alexandra Pollard, The Guardian, Mar 2017
“Slowdive on Their First Album in 22 Years and Why Shoegaze Came Back” Quinn Moreland, Pitchfork, Apr 2017
“Slowdive on Reuniting for the Band’s First Album in 22 Years” Justin Joffe, Observer, Apr 2017
“Why Slowdive’s Post-Rock Masterpiece Pygmalion Still Matters” Marc Hogan and Quinn Moreland, Pitchfork, Dec 2018
“Slowdive interviewed: ‘The destination was never really discussed or known’” Piers Martin, Uncut Magazine, Aug 2023
“Slowdive Are More ‘Alive’ Than Ever” Cam Lindsay, Spin Magazine, Sep 2023
“The perseverance of Slowdive” Ashwin Bhandari, The Line of Best Fit, Sep 2023
“Slowdive: How Gen Z became obsessed with the 90s shoegaze legends” Will Richards, The Standard, Nov 2023
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[@TrashTheory]

Every now and then I get people asking for a playlist of every song mentioned in my videos: Well here's a Spotify link for this one: open.spotify.com/playlist/1gqVLATzu07HpsgrqIZFOw?si=da1d6c7bd4e741d9 and the KZbin Music one: music.kzbin.info/aero/PLooaZ33lSalcQ2-wKM1rpc4qMReHI-KYc&si=y0orrMVpZ-cT41Bq

[@oddunb6190]

Awesome! Thanks

[@Psykostatik]

So much easier than stopping the video to make a list on notepad in my phone 😂 Much appreciated.

[@sstanfo1]

Souvlaki Space Station still send shivers down my spine. I love Slowdive

[@Butchey88]

hero! thank you

[@papertoyss]

Ride

[@crunchyfrog555]

I have a particular disdain for Nme in the way they used to (and probably still do) this. I work at Glastonbury Festival and have done for about 20 years. I'm disabled and work in the disabled campsite and thereabouts. One particular year whilst "dressed the part" (as we're encouraged to do), I was trying to get dry, waving my arms about with a multicoloured jacket on and a photographer asked if he could take my photo. I said "sure" and off they went. When I return home, I find out NME had posted my photo along with a derogatory "look at this drug addled clown" emphasising that I would harrass you for drugs. Needless to say I wasn't happy and got legal advice. This was about the same time as Morrissey sued them for defamation. I got a big settlement and the idiots were so incompetent I am free to talk about it because I never got an NDA. Fuck them always.

[@RCAvhstape]

That's a great happy ending to that story.

[@mikelevitt7365]

Great work on that!!

[@crunchyfrog555]

@@RCAvhstape Not gonna lie, but it caused me a lot of shit at the time, but once I managed to get it all sorted and watch their incompetence too, I had a laugh.

[@p0werfu11]

Br*tish "journalism"

[@2003jackb]

That's one of the most sickening things I've heard in journalism, and I studied media for 5+ years.

[@user-sd3ik9rt6d]

The enemy of the NME is my friend.

[@hanktheblesseddeejay]

NME writers were sad little fuckers

[@rachelar]

They are the enemy alright. Bitter old punks

[@sevendaughters]

@@rachelarthere really wasn't a homogeneous view at the NME and was famous for its hostilities within the publication itself

[@georgeetboom7719]

Nice

[@peterwilson1317]

Revenge is a dish best served frozen. Slowdive MUST be having the last laugh! Interestingly, there was a short lived monthly British music magazine from the early nineties called "Lime Lizard". Their editorial policy was basically, 'we have to tell the truth, BUT... if something's shite it's not getting in the magazine. We're not going to dis someone's creative effort publicly - given the power and influence that we as music journalists have.' i.e. Critics with a moral conscience. I wonder who's stacking shelves in Tesco now???

[@DeadWhiteButterflies]

I love how Slowdive have been on the greatest redemption of all time. The press simply did not get it. And now after all these years they're the biggest and best they've ever been, and there's kids young enough be the band's own children who have an unwavering fantaticism for them and deservedly so.

[@zam6877]

Gawd, we need it With things being so stressful

[@nimhard]

Goes to show how good music is timeless

[@misstekhead]

I noticed this as well when I began randomly coming across young Gen Z doing covers of Slovaki Space Station. It’s surreal, but wonderful to see.

[@williestyle35]

Yep. No doubt the bandmates in Slowdive are having the last laugh. _'Everything Is Alive'_ has some good songs and they will be on tour this year. Many of the critics and music magazines that first liked then kept putting them down are not around anymore, but Slowdive has "redeemed" themselves a few times over.

[@shenanigans3710]

In Australia, my mates and I all loved them. We didn't read NME etc so I guess we had no idea they weren't supposed to be cool. Then again, I even liked the Soup Dragons 🤣 which got me roundly mocked.

[@FrithonaHrududu02127]

"He was a _____ and she was a _____, but they bonded over their love of The Smiths." The first sentence of every British bands bio for the past 40 years. Another great video.

[@Antitrite]

I couldn't help but read this to the tune of Sk8er Boi

[@ashwinbhandari1989]

Hey Trash Theory, just wanted to say it is an absolute honor to see my interview with Rachel Goswell be referenced in this video!

[@cranklabexplosion-labcentr8245]

IT MAAAATTERS WHERE YOU ARRRRE!

[@Boomblast57]

I’ll never forget hearing that line for the first time alone sitting on my roof stoned out my mind ❤

[@jsmrt6875]

I’ll never forget standing 2 feet from this angel as she crooned those words! ❤

[@intothecountry74]

It matters WHEN you are

[@liamkinsella3302]

That line hits me in my soul til this day

[@Alix777.]

they have 1 good song yeah

[@soaribb32]

Their second album is so comforting to me, it's like a hug from an old friend.

[@zimriel]

yeah, the first album was frontloaded and uneven (they should have put "Shine" on the B side, maybe "Losing Today" too). Second album was near-gold. I can see why the music press didn't accept the first one but not why they trashed the second one

[@jetpilotzx]

Their third album is even better

[@ThreadBomb]

@@zimriel What, Slowdive should have re-used even more tracks from their EPs on the album? Fans are better off just getting the early EPs.

[@zimriel]

@@ThreadBomb Keep in mind that Neil said in interviews that "Shine" was made for the album but he didn't like it (at the time) so left it for the "Holding our Breath" EP. He's repeatedly expressed regret for that decision.

[@richardroberson2564]

Wow I never knew this. Shine was always one of my favorites by the band. Would have had a good place on Just for a Day

[@robertmarles9665]

I remember those days very well. Melody Maker, Sounds and NME were full of nasty vicious people with no talent of their own who could distroy bands and frequently did. It's almost unbelievable to look back on how influential they were, once they had it in for you it was Game Over. It must be very satisfying for the members of Slowdive, they have been well and truly vindicated. I'm so pleased for them. Hopefully they will continue to make music for many years to come.

[@fogschool5609]

Yep, nasty, vicious writers who could only spread hate.

[@1anwrang13r]

Those magazines were influential because back then there was so few other routes to hearing about new music. I read the Melody Maker religiously and, yes, in hindsight they occasionally could be vicious. But they also introduced me to music that I simply would never have heard about before. Curve, Cranes, Ride, Slowdive, Lush, Dead Can Dance, Therapy?, Madder Rose, Underworld, Biosphere, The Future Sound of London, Sugar, This Mortal Coil, Dinosaur Jr - all those and many more were bands that I first discovered on the pages of Melody Maker in the 90s and that I still listen to today.

[@offshoretomorrow3346]

The kind of narcissists who run the universities, the media and destroy people by denouncing and demonetising them on political grounds.

[@sonial1839]

Fortunately Melody Maker and Sounds are now rotting in hell.

[@hypersphere412]

I'm 50 this year and I got to see Slowdive live for the first time last year. I was so happy I cried. Slowdive sounded so good, it was intensely emotional experience.

[@germansanchez316]

I'm also 50 and happened the same to me last november in a festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The main band was The Cure, who made a long show despite it was a festival. Even though I knew Slowdive were good, they caught me by surprise with such a non decayingly great show, for the compositions, the climates and the audio, which is not so good in many festivals. These guys are fresh and pro.

[@hypersphere412]

@@germansanchez316 Ah The Cure, living in New Zealand I've only seen them once before as well. But we were right at the front and so close I could read the stickers on Robert's guitar 🙂

[@Fenlander456]

I'm 56 and i went to see them in Manchester a couple of weeks ago, first time i have seen them since around 1990, huge age range of people there from late teens to 60's and the band was absolutely fantastic.

[@yesackram]

I saw them just before Christmas and I had the very same experience. They're incredible.

[@mirellatorrisi1397]

Me too at primavera 2022 with king gizzard at a sideshow! Amazing night. “When the sun hits” has been back on high rotation since then

[@gardenboydon]

This is one thing I like about modern times. Bands aren't dependent on musuc media publications "making or breaking" an artist

[@oddunb6190]

No instead they’re dependent on an algorithm push paid for by record labels lol

[@johnchedsey1306]

On the flipside, great bands are heard by few people because there's just so much out there now.

[@alexsmart5452]

@@johnchedsey1306 yea, there are some good bands out there, but its like finding a needle in a haystack of syringes(and none of them are clean.). So Ive got to qualify this, Im Gen X and admit Im a little lost finding new music thats not at Tower Records in Hollywood(which closed down..very sad). I go on places like Bandcamp and there are literally thousands of bands with the Shoegaze moniker, all with good ratings but only 32 followers and have dozens of songs going back 8 years. Many arent even shoegaze( I ran into one that was experimental jazz doing covers of 80s hair metal). I go to listen and they all sound the basically the same. Like someone got a free copy of Ableton and just halfassed it and now have an EP or a record or 3 records. There are a couple that have promise and a few I really like, but its overwhelming and no one seems to want to call out the crap for fear of "upsetting" someone. So shit is presented as "good enough" and any band that might be "great" gets lost. Maybe my standards are to high. Maybe becasue I grew up with it nothing sounds new/original. Maybe "new music" is for youth. Maybe Gen X music is the best it will ever be and everything else is just a sad copy(Im going to go with that one..lol. It makes it easier. So we were talking about clean syringes. You holding?)

[@johndonaldson3619]

you're right -in modern times they're not dependent on anything and no one want to see them

[@SmartCookie2022]

Regardless of what the media thought about Slowdive, their UK album sales were tepid.

[@sirrobert23]

I love Slowdive so much. How could they possibly be hated??

[@TrailerBob]

I only became aware of this weird hatred a few years ago. I assumed everyone always considered Souvlaki to be a classic.

[@austintrousdale2397]

Projection, I suspect

[@sstanfo1]

It defenitly came as a surprise to me to. I knew about the general backlash to shoegaze in the early to mid 90's but I didn't know one of them was singled out like this

[@fastcarsoldandnew]

They weren't; they were just shrugged at.

[@Eightball69]

Taste?

[@corinnae.7877]

Best example how it's actually a good thing the music press isn't taken serious anymore and doesn't influence an artists career. Also "I'm feeling supersonic, give me gin and tonic" will never die out, especially in memory of the Placebo video.

[@ComaDave]

"When the Sun hits" was my 2002 post-breakup sanctuary song. The thing helped keep me alive.

[@jschap712]

My daughter recently got into them independently of my influence, and got excited when she found out I saw them in concert in the 90s, so I also played her some Mojave 3. It's makes me happy that this band I never stopped loving has found success with a new generation, including my own daughter. I remember one time during university I went to the big local new and used record store, and it was quiet since classes weren't in session at the two local universities. One of the employees walked up to me and asked if I needed help finding anything, and I said no sort of flashing a couple of cds I already picked out. So out of curiosity, the employee asked me what I had, and I show him Slowdive's Souvlaki Space Station, and Red House Painters (Rollercoaster). And he goes, Oh, you definitely don't need help. People who really cared about music did not give a flying fuck about NME, etc.

[@jsmrt6875]

Red house painters! The most heartbreaking lyric EVER! “Glass on the pavement under my shoe, without you is all my life amounts too”😭 Gets me every time.

[@jamesleonard2870]

Same thing hapoend with me and my son in regards to m bloody Valentine and loveless. He visited a cousin in NY that was obcessed with loveless and he tight my son sone of the guitar set ups. So since then we’ve been lusting to all the MBV together. My dream is they’ll your one more time and we can see them together =] I actually won a ticket to see MBV in sf when loveless dropped. (I was dating one of the djs so it was kinda rigged loks)

[@credenzamostro]

Rollercoaster, what an album

[@biancachristie]

Things are so different in the US. I can’t remember there being a backlash against Slowdive or shoegaze after grunge; in fact, it seems like we listened to even more shiegaze after grunge hit because 2nd/3rd wave “grunge” was so bad. I learn something new every time I watch your vids

[@Neenerella333]

Totally agree. Most post punk incarnations got softer and more sweet. It wasn't all for me, but me and my friends never swelled with hate. Alternative Press didn't come for them like NME or Melody Maker seemed to have.

[@oddunb6190]

The UK press are pure poison. And music critics are some of the worst of them. Horrible fuckers bitter they never wrote a song themselves.

[@solearesoul]

I agree. Where I was on the east Coast, grunge only enhanced the popularity of all “alternative” groups.

[@fiveleavesleft6521]

US folk don't really understand how parochial the UK can be. Back then the music press set the musical tone for the whole country and most were bitter old punks who didn't really get "cerebral" music.

[@biancachristie]

@@fiveleavesleft6521 I moved to Europe for a while in the mid-90s and got a better taste of the British scene, especially the way the press operates. The bad side is how bands like Slowdive get hyped and then trashed by their own champions, as those (usually older folk with more cultural clout and the bully pulpit of the press) critics move on to something new (honestly because they live in their own ecosystem that survives on novelty, for better or for worse); the good side--at least to Americans like me--is that young alternative and indie musicians get so much serious exposure: until the internet and Pitchfork and such, we really didn't have the kind of in-depth interviews that were a staple of the English music press at its best. I understand how that was all a product of covering a much smaller scene than we have over here, but I still marvel at the sheer amount of lasting talent that the UK has produced in the last half century plus. Part of that has to do with the music press, and those weekly updates of *everything* that *everyone* in the same region all received at the same time, which is integral to keeping the scene(s) pumping. And America is sooooo conservative and retrograde in its mainstream tastes; with music, things hit a gravitational center here and just stick, until a sound is just done to death in endless iterations and imitations, because our music industry is so risk-averse (even today, don't get me started: I'll just sound like a crazy old kook raving in the corner about "kids these days"). Back in the 80s and early 90s, getting your hands on an import copy of MM or the NME (or Sounds, back when it still existed) was like striking gold; some shops carried them, but only irregularly and they were pretty expensive to purchase. But they were invaluable for learning what was happening months (or more) ahead of when something new finally got over here, even if you had good connections in the record shops and the clubs. For all their limitations, they were a lifeline, especially if you lived in the middle of Middle America, as I did. Exotic (to many American ears) English music kept me sane during adolescence and the tough road into adulthood, and I'm so grateful for all of it.

[@santiagobauza4257]

Discovered Slowdive on FIFA of all places. Star Roving was part of FIFA 18's soundtrack, and it's easily one of the best songs on it, so full of life and energy but also really evocative. That sent me into a rabbit hole, and naturally into the lush soundscapes of Souvlaki. I fortunately got the chance to catch the band in my hometown of Buenos Aires last November, and it was one of the most ethereal live experiences of my life. Their story is a really inspiring instance of trusting your own ability as a musician when you hit on something of quality. Sooner or later people will come around on it.

[@stickershock66]

Similarly, I discovered The Answering Machine - It's Over! It's Over! It's Over! from FIFA 10.

[@babymilksnatcher]

at a time where people tend to not go beyond Spotify playlist recommendations and TikTok trending tracks, Fifa feels like the only outlet in popular media that allows a broad audience to discover indie artists and non-English speaking musicians.

[@rovingstars_]

damn you’re so me

[@john_dillermand]

When the sun hits will always be on my playlist.

[@hamburgerlover9825]

I fucking love Slowdive. They played one canadian show on their tour and it was on my birthday. 40 days is my favourite song of theirs and they played it as the encore. I'm autistic so live music can be pretty hard to enjoy sometimes. But it was absolutely magical. One of the best nights of my life.

[@caesarofcymatics]

PLEASE do a video on The Chameleons. They've had such a huge, yet unseen, output on modern music, particularly the post punk and shoegaze revival.

[@fenncarr3774]

I love the chameleons so much. Just last year I wrote an oral about intrigue in Tangiers for literature

[@carbonidsolo5479]

Please leave this gorgeous pearl in the dark where it belongs because thats what their music is about as well. Same with some others i don't want to mention of course ;)

[@caesarofcymatics]

@@carbonidsolo5479 I think they deserved to be talked about, even just a small mention in a video would be nice, but I do somewhat agree aha

[@louis143]

the chameleons were making dream pop music before it was even a thing (though the cocteau twins startet at about the same time i think) and nobody seems to talk about them! glad to see this comment

[@louis143]

@@carbonidsolo5479i think these bands would find it cool to be known by more people especially the younger generation.

[@rosswitherington2852]

I would love to see one of these about Post Rock. Slint was criminally under appreciated at the time Spiderland released. And it went on to inspire a good chunk of the post and math rock that followed it.

[@rachelar]

Google Post punk Monk

[@briancox9357]

I love Spider land

[@monalisamoshpit]

Slowdive documentaries always bring tears to my eyes. I am so thankful they are still with us today.

[@CupofCloud]

Slowdive (2017) is arguably one of the greatest comeback albums of all time. Effin gorgeous from start to finish

[@fenncarr3774]

Honestly think it’s their best album. Sugar for the pill is one of my favourite songs ever

[@MarkB-SnowyMtn]

I love Sugar for the Pill as well. I play in our church's worship band, and one of the worship songs we play seems to be inspired by the chords & guitar effects of Sugar for the Pill, but with the chord progression kind of reversed. I set up my guitar rig as close as I can get to what Neil is playing on that song. I even named my guitar patch: Classic Slowdive. I kind of play it in honor of Slowdive. :) The guitarist who plays it on the original live recording seems rather young, (I have been playing semi-professionally for 50 years), but he obviously is a shoegaze fan. I hear a lot of Slowdive/shoegaze influence in modern worship music.

[@hdufort]

The live version of Golden Hair at Primavera and in the next big stages shows how much they were in control, full of energy and ready for a comeback. The famous "crying blue haired girl" video also shows that there was a younger generation ready to follow them anywhere they'd decide to go.

[@musa7606]

First heard Slowdive in 91 on my local college radio station in small town Kentucky. Bought Souvlaki when it came out and its been in costant rotation ever since. In May, I finally get to see them in concert.

[@perfectlyperfectpoint9090]

Where did you go to college, WKU?

[@musa7606]

@@perfectlyperfectpoint9090 Yeah, I was listening to 91.7. At the time it was so weak you could only pick it up in town... Unless you hooked your radio up to a tall TV antenna ha ha. Later they boosted their power significantly.

[@perfectlyperfectpoint9090]

How could I guess! I live here, I know we’ve got dope radio for sure, one of the best parts of BG! Maybe I’ll see ya at the Louisville show good buddy!

[@deepfocus888]

I will NEVER tire of a “story of Slowdive” KZbin doc. You guys can release one of these a day and I’ll still watch it. 🤙

[@markfrancombe]

Thanks for the great run-down of a fantastic band. You mentioned a tour with my band Cranes, just to say we actually toured twice with them, and every second was a fun enjoyable experience. It’s brilliant that they are doing so well now, and rightly so! And great to hear such a well formulated analysis of the toxic UK music press of the time. Everyone was terrified of what some idiot nerdy kids could do to their careers often as a joke or whim.

[@thevector]

"Positively indecent." (On making great music in their 50's.) One of the greatest music stories I have heard and Trash Theory was born to tell this one. Thank you!

[@markdaly1648]

Never heard of them

[@kostajovanovic3711]

​@@markdaly1648you have just now

[@mterpstra]

Catherine Wheel were contemporaries who didn’t neatly fit into the Shoegaze category as they grew. Of any group of that era, I’d love to see them reunite, but, given the lead singer has found great success in his passion for cars, I don’t have any hope it will happen. Thanks for all of your videos. Real fun to watch.

[@ojdg7832]

What an amazing band!

[@fiveleavesleft6521]

I remember a radio interview with Halstead in which he picked his favourite songs (one was Plainsong by the Cure). He was asked "How do you want Slowdive to be remembered?". Answer "That we changed the face of rock and roll". Well Neil, you did.

[@db8658]

They weren't maligned like Slowdive, but I think Curve is the most underappreciated band from the era of shoegaze and dream pop. They were incredible.

[@cris_261]

As great as they were, Curve wasn't "radio friendly" enough. Garbage took Curve's sound, made it more accessible to the masses, and reaped the rewards. At the time, I considered Garbage to be the inferior band, and stuck with Curve. I did learn to like Garbage, but Curve will always be #1.

[@twobyfour]

Good shout. Criminally overlooked, then Shirley Manson and Courtney Love somehow became the torch bearers.

[@greva2904]

@@cris_261Oh, it’s worse than that - a few albums after Curve reformed, the NME reviewed their latest album (Gift, if memory serves). The NME only gave the album a 2 inch long review buried deep in the review section… and accused Curve of stealing Garbage’s sound! You really couldn’t are this stuff up. I actually remember staring at that review in disbelief!

[@cris_261]

@greva2904 That's utter madness. It's like NME was begging to be sued for slander. I recall reading somewhere that Curve didn't initially mind Garbage being compared to them, but after a while, it began to anger them. I liked Gift. It had several songs that could have been hits. Curve released one more album after Gift called The New Adventures of Curve, and then called it a day.

[@fogschool5609]

Yes, Curve were fantastic but not too dissimilar from Slowdive, in that they were totally slated from their first album onwards, after the praise of their first EPs.

[@frazercaird5724]

I saw Slowdive a couple of times in the last year and the thing which stuck me - and its VERY unique - was that here was a band formed 30 odd years ago and the average age of the audience must've be about 25. I think this says everything.

[@marshalsea000]

Best music documentaries around! Do one on Curve please!!!

[@mterpstra]

YES!!!!

[@allison8936]

Please!!!!

[@cris_261]

Yes, please, a music doc on Curve.

[@indieokee]

I'm from Brazil and had no idea about all that thing with the press... Slowdive has always been pretty much loved down here, by "alternative people", at least. Thanks for this! If you can, make one on Swervedriver, or Teenage Fanclub, love those bands =)

[@haxio17]

80s 90s is alt gen And before

[@n.c.6378]

Eu também não tinha noção dessa perseguição da imprensa britânica à banda. Não chegou a nós. Adoro o Slowdive.

[@atlanta2076]

I had NO idea how much crap this fine band had to go through during their first iteration. It's almost unfathomable. Funnily, I listened to M83's We Own The Sky first before I came across Slowdive. And my all time favorite will always be "Sleep". The amount of emotion in this song is unmatched.

[@_-Freeman-_]

I totally missed Slowdive and ignored bands like My Bloody Valentine. Though familiar with some of it, I don't remember ever hearing of 'Shoegaze' back in the 90's. This is a whole new thing for me to explore in hopes of mitigating a little of that feeling I completely missed something that was right there with me in my 20's. And maybe, I'll be inspired...

[@Will-wx8kn]

The explanation of When the Sun Hits and its romantic irony was goosebump inducing

[@RuthlessMojo]

Would love to see you do Goldfrapp’s Felt Mountain in your new British canon series. Alison has such an amazing voice and Will’s orchestrations are so rich sonically. They really are a class act.

[@1anwrang13r]

Ooh, good choice. Goldfrapp has moved music on several times over.

[@pierstheoneandonly]

Hah! Middle-class act, for sure. Another establishment music-your-dad-would-like band who, like P'head, think laboured 60s cold-war film soundtrack cliches is well hip.

[@peterdixon7975]

@@pierstheoneandonly Oooohh! Punching up. Edgy.

[@peterdixon7975]

@@pierstheoneandonly 1. "Corporate-type bands who profess a socially-sound band-of-the-people credo!" You didn't make that point though. 2."I know/knew a couple of the band [P'head], one of whose contributions to the band's whole sound were never acknowledged, in word or wages, by the head honchos." Or that one. You did make some vaguely classist / ageist dig at bands you don't like, I just made a snide comment in response. Cheers.

[@pierstheoneandonly]

@@peterdixon7975 My latter comment wasn't made to support any previous point. It was merely to give some further insight into the specious nature of a couple of purveyors of 'trip-hop' music.

[@theparalexview785]

Here in the US, we were aware of the UK rock music press, but it had little or no influence on our scene or media. Back when "The Edge" FM radio format really did emphasize new music, alternative music, whatever, Slowdive got a lot of airplay despite the hypertrendy obsessions of NME. Same with Madchester and the rest from that era -- all got a lot of airplay in the US during that heyday. And, interestingly, Slowdive got a lot more airplay than My Bloody Valentine.

[@fishandchipdiaries]

The sound they created live could transform any venue. You would forget where you were and be completely absorbed.

[@fiveleavesleft6521]

I once saw them in my city of Norwich, UK in midwinter. I walked 6 miles home through the ice and snow with my head in the stars.

[@Brosenbrose]

Thank you for 30 minutes of chills all over my body on this Sunday. It would be amazing if you could do Cranes next!

[@fiveleavesleft6521]

Ha, i was just thinking exactly that! Cranes seem to be coming out of hibernation too.

[@browk2512]

"We will always hate Slowdive more than we hate Adolf Hitler" is an insane quote!

[@DylanPank71]

Well, turned out Rickey Edwards was indeed a deeply unwell person.

[@connorparsfield7456]

I can sense the sarcasm from richey. It was trendy to hate on slowdive at the time

[@bryanzzz748]

the fact at the end is really crazy to think about, that slowdive’s regrouping has now been longer than their initial stint in the 90s

[@thebizkid84]

I’d say for an American Shoegaze band that didn’t get their due justice until recently is Drop Nineteens.

[@philp7012]

This is the most incredible music channel on the Internet. I always learn something new and find new bands I've never heard of by proxy of the subject band. When the history of the music is explained I feel more connected to the generation that inspired it somehow. Wish I could've been there.

[@ThreadBomb]

8:18 These lyrics for Celia's Dream are posted all over the internet, and they are INCORRECT. The actual lyric is "But she takes - She gives it all and fades"

[@twangology]

Great !!! this was so good thank you - massive Slowdive fan - 49 years old. It would be great to see an expose on the UK band "Curve" - they had a very distinct sound, and now with all EP reissues and albums "Doppelganger" and "Cuckoo" this year - would make for another great episode , wishfull thinking :)

[@JamesBurrTV]

Loved Curve. They were another band who were NME darlings for about a year then they were dropped like a hot potato. Strangely, as "big" as they were (at least on the Indie scene), barely anyone mentions them now, despite quite a few new bands ripping them off.

[@twangology]

@@JamesBurrTV agree!

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

I was already pretty old when shoegaze came out in the '90s so I didn't discover any of this stuff till much later in the $1 CD clearance bins. I became a fan of all of it and am kind of glad I never heard any of the appalling hostility these guys got. Bless this bland and thank you for the dignified and touching tribute to them.

[@jonarmistead4839]

I never stopped loving Slowdive. Souvlaki and Pygmallion are both brilliant albums. Saw them in Auckland last July. It was quite possibly the greatest gig I've ever seen.😊

[@adriancurran3234]

Yeah they were epic - sound stage was Massive it’s one of the best I’ve ever heard the sound mix in The Powerstation.

[@MartinoftheHill]

That was the best gig I've been to in 10 years - always loved Slowdive. Surreal to see them in Auckland on the other side of the World and 30 years later from when I first heard them.

[@jordangroff8978]

The only band that has made a true difference in my life, I'm thankful that I found them.

[@danafiorelli9799]

When I first got together with my now Husband, SSS was always playing in our little studio apartment. We were young, we used hard drugs and that was the album you put on. Years later we both got clean and I rediscovered them via their new, I think self titled album. I listened, we aged, we got clean, they did the same. It was the most intense feeling of catharsis, like visiting with a dear old friend. I will forever love this band.

[@rodrigoroa6753]

Slowdive was never a hard drugs band

[@danafiorelli9799]

@@rodrigoroa6753 Oh my goodness, I Guess we interpreted the lyrics incorrectly! Hahaha, guessing all the, high, references were about pot. Well good for them! Ok, nix the, "they got clean" part. It was still incredibly moving to hear them again after all those years. A lovely, hazy memory of the happiest time in my life! I just love them.

[@rodrigoroa6753]

@@danafiorelli9799 right on, saw them live in 2018 and yes they are amazing, I would describe the experience as ethereal. Also kudos for leaving the hard stuff behind, I also had some issues with that and it's not a nice thing at all.

[@acatnamedbeef]

Suede was also treated rather unfairly, I'd love a video on them

[@kassyh117]

I love shoegazing, and even if Lush is now my favorite band of this genre, Slowdive has a special place in my heart because it has been my introduction to this kind of music I remember my first listen, like a unreal fevered dream, it was insane I didn't know about all this mess with the british press What they did to these amazingly talented young musicians... it's heartbreaking and so unfair This comeback is a wonderful revenge !!

[@bobette00]

To be a young art student again, romanticizing my angst along to Souvlaki! Thankfully, seeing them live recently was not only a nostalgic experience. They're still making excellent music. And for all the ongoing glorification of 90's bands, they're the only ones I never stopped listening to. Excellent vid; time for one on Spacemen 3!

[@williampowell15]

My band supported them at university of Kent in 1990.

[@VictorKibalchich]

They're very popular at the moment among my 16 year old daughter and her mates

[@Choralone422]

Back then I growing up in the Midwest US I discovered shoegaze after grunge had already blown up. For me the 2 co-existed together. Grunge for when I felt hyped and overly angsty and shoegaze for when I wanted to be more relaxed. Grunge was EVERYWHERE back then so a lot of local high school & college aged indie bands ended up sounding either like shoegaze or more like punk since everyone was tired of grunge by the mid 90s. My friends and I had mags like Maximum Rocknroll, Spin and Rolling Stone but no-one that I knew took any of them too seriously. MTV & local radio had more of an impact than any of them did. We would see what was on MTV, especially on shows like 120 Minutes. We had a local college radio station that was known as the "100 Watt Blow Torch" that played a massive variety of music. Along with a much larger commercial station, KFMH, that had a show on Sunday evenings called "Off The Beat n' Track" or OTBT that played stuff we generally couldn't hear anywhere else, at least until 1994 when the station changed owners and format to Country... 120 Minutes and OTBT both being on Sunday nights meant there was plenty to talk about with friends on Mondays which often times would continue on through each week until the next Sunday night.

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

i'm 42 and american and have in the past few years discovered shoe gaze and just absolutely love it i came across is basically learning to play form of pick style bass and things i can play bass and use pedals on, anyways i had no idea this band had this type of past because now they are well respected.

[@AndrewJamesHatcher]

I don’t recall them being mentioned by name but I do remember shoegaze being a punchline in the press at the time and who can blame them, the triple whammy of grunge, britpop and rave made staring at your pedals in slow motion seem about as interesting as Berkshire. Of course I re-discovered them as an adult and liked what I heard!

[@MarcelGomesPan]

I love ”Kisses”! It is very ”transportive”. I know exactly who i think of and the place and cicumstances that are evoked. Music that actually move me!

[@vincentveasey9389]

I went to see them down the Fleece Bristol 1990. Thought they were great! Massive sound. Bought the first record the next day. Still have it!

[@RobertFantinatto]

I loved Slowdive so much in the 90's, Alison still makes me get teary eyed when the first notes start to play. I was scared to listen to the 2017 release, put it off for months, but I was just blown away from the first track to the last. Long live Slowdive...always #1 in my heart.

[@TheHrb1234]

I miss Lush so much

[@TedDiabetes]

"Music journalists love Elvis Costello and hate me because they look like Elvis Costello." - David Lee Roth -

[@matthewcoombs3282]

Morrisey said most UK music journalists were frustrated musicians who used to bass players in failed bands.

[@TedDiabetes]

@matthewcoombs3282 most entirely lack any creativity, vision, or actual musical talent, and use music as a tool to further their own self-image. We call those people "posers."

[@Barbaste]

David always has the best quotes! I remember on Creem: things bands always say about 2nd album: this one is heavier than the 1st one, the 1st one was fucked up by the producer LOL

[@TedDiabetes]

@@Barbaste the Mark Twain of Rock and Roll. ❤️

[@greva2904]

One NME journalist actually got to live the secret dream of all NME journalists - he was the lead singer of the band Gay Dad. They were really crap.

[@hauntedsiamesetwin]

I was in Göttingen, Germany,and Slowdive was being played over the speakers in this outdoor clothing store. It was 1996, and I was transfixed.

[@Dave.Angel.Eco.Warrior]

Sugar For The Pill was my first Slowdive song. It may be more 'radio friendly', but it's also really good.

[@remainsilent9696]

this is SUCH a beautiful documentative video. i cried at the very end and felt immersed in their (slowdive's) story. thank you SO very much for making this and continuing to perpetuate the beauty of this band and it's history

[@toasterroast7678]

I saw Slowdive in London a couple of months ago, the show was great and it was fun headbanging along with a bunch of older rockers.

[@j.arelylopez3053]

I think I discovered them on a pandora radio of Cocteau twins when I was in middle/highschool and it was my older sister that showed me Cocteau twins. Maybe it’s the angst and calmness of their music that resonated with me as an introverted loner that was smoking weed at the time. I still like their hits to this day.

[@hishamhilal8332]

This channel's work is really underrated. Rock on mate.

[@ThreadBomb]

The backlash against Slowdive wasn't just a whim. Their first three EPs were amazing, and the subsequent album emphatically failed to live up to their potential. One critic called it "a major fucking letdown", and he was right. (The best song, "Catch the Breeze", was re-used from the Holding Our Breath EP.) Arguably, Slowdive never managed to regain their early consistency, even if they did manage the occasional great moment. But they were never "Britain's most hated indie band" - that honour was reserved for the Cranes.

[@greva2904]

Yeah, I think Slowdive have unexpectedly found their niche decades after they made their debut. When they originally appeared, everyone was bored to death of Shoegaze, and rightly or wrongly they sounded like just another bunch of wannabes. Wrong place, wrong time. Now they sound fairly unique as most of their Shoegaze contemporaries have been pretty much forgotten.

[@alancollins6878]

I discovered Slowdive in 2014 because one of the greatest bands in Latin America, called Soda Stereo, mentions as a great influence. When I hear Slowdive for first time, quickly became in one of my favorite bands. I think other reason for unsuccesfull in 90's was the band were pretty much ahead of its time. For that reason they sounds like a contemporary band. Cheers for you video and cheers for Slowdive!

[@jasongray797]

I SO appreciate what you do. I've been swimming in music since i was six (1976), but I almost never fail to find something new / be reminded of some music i forgot, because of the thoroughness of your analysis, and the way you cross-reference with other bands. I have to be in the right FOM, but I really admire your work. Thank You.

[@WobblyTeacup]

Seeing Slowdive this Thursday in Hong Kong - thanks for this!

[@ariescustom]

About time you did one on Curve, probably the most underrated band of the 90s. Just ask Butch Vig 😉

[@greva2904]

Curve, one of my all time favourite bands. And they had a similar experience with the UK music press - hyped up when their first eps were released, and the first album got favourable reviews. Then the NME and the other mags turned against them because - get this - before Curve, Dean Garcia had played bass guitar for the Eurythmics when they toured. And that little fact was all it took for the music mags to turn against the band. I wish I was making this up, but sadly I’m not.

[@cris_261]

​@greva2904 I didn't know that. Wasn't the label Curve initially signed to owned by Dave Stewart (Anxious Records)?

[@ariescustom]

@@greva2904 Quite a weel-known fact, it was Dave Stewart who introduced Toni and Dean. Cuckoo also got very favourable reviews, as did Come Clean.

[@SY-ok2dq]

​@@greva2904 Curve I've heard of, Slowdive I had not until this video. But what was the issue with having done backing work for the Eurhythmics?

[@timhulsizer]

I love everything about this YT account. The band choices, the editing, the presentation...you've come a long way from that first 21 Jump Street video. Hope you continue for many years to come.

[@mickredland6399]

In depth and emotional - what a great story of a sublime band with a redemption arc straddling decades. The last 2 Slowdive albums have been beautiful and mature, suffused with longing and gorgeous swathes of sound and feels. Thanks fr this!

[@Crissy_the_wonder]

I am in my early 50s, and I used to get the NME, Sounds and Melody maker and I turned against them when you could read how arrogant they were, sometimes failed musicians who thought they were better than the bands they were writing about. Crappy music journos aside, love the reminder of the music. I'll dig out my Slowdive records

[@user-sd3ik9rt6d]

Never trust someone else's opinion when that opinion depends on a very good lunch or a line of coke.

[@Kay100Jay]

I used to have the same accountant as the 'Welsh Punk Situationists', Manic Street Preachers.

[@tylercraig5633]

I’m seeing Slowdive with Drab Majesty in three weeks. So freaking excited!! Absolute legends

[@twentyfirstidentity]

Coincidentally, I’m going to see Slowdive play in Taipei this Saturday night

[@Eternity909]

My stepdad was quite good friends with Ian (drummer from Mojave 3) and he was around a bit when I was growing up. Didn’t realise he was in slowdive till about a year ago lol

[@chibivesicle9612]

I had no idea how disliked Slowdive were in the UK music press. My friend introduced me to them in grad school in the 2000s and Pygmalion is a masterpiece. Can't wait to see them in May on tour.

[@MellissaBoomeroftheNight]

I have always said when my channel grows up it wants to be like this one (not talking about the one w this handle, so not promoting here). I'm just complimenting your work. Always amazing.

[@Steve_42_]

I missed Slowdive the first time around, only getting into them in the late 90s after they had broken up. Listening to their music always made me so sad. I could never understand why they weren't more successful and rued that I'd never get to see them live. Then 2014 happened. It never ceases to make me happy that they're having a second go at it, getting critical and audience praise, and enjoying themselves doing it. If you had told me in 2013 that I'd seem them live 6 times in the decade that followed, I would have thought you were crazy. I hope they keep having fun and blessing us with new music for years to come.

[@pwaegemans]

I never realized there was such negativity around them! I was one of those that learned about them thanks to the brilliant tribute made by Morr Music in the early 2000s. But it wasn't until their 2017 album which dropped like a bomb that I got hooked! That album is one of the best albums in 2017 and when I start listening, I listen to whole thing. I'm glad to be able to see them twice this year in Belgium. Thanks for the great video once again Trash man!

[@Severinate]

Love you to take a look at the lesser known UK bands (Dogs D'amour, Wildhearts, Little Angels, Horse London, Underneath What, Thee Hypnotics and The Quireboys) that died at the dawn of Grunge.

[@greva2904]

I accidentally saw Thee Hypnotics supporting other bands twice in 1988. All I remember is that at one point the lead singer made a really inept attempt to climb a speaker stack, then after finally summoning up the nerve, made the most pathetic leap off a speaker stack I’ve ever witnessed. I can’t remember the music, but I can remember him making an absolute prat of himself!

[@raymondhayes480]

When "Just for a Day" came out, I was buying music based on either the covers of albums, song titles or other methods. I NEVER read any music magazines or studied what the press was saying at the time. I wanted a fresh experience every purchase. I had come off the 80's and hair bands...and was listening to stuff like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden (with hints of prog stuff like Yes and Genesis). I also loved Bowie. But, when I saw the album cover for "Just for a Day", it caught my attention. It did not fail. The music blew me away. I became entranced with shoegaze as a whole from the 90's on. I joined the Grunge period, and rocked out during that time...but, always came back to Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Lush, etc. I am now 62, and to this day will always remember that single purchase becoming the future of all music I would imbibe in. I barely listen to grunge, and still listen to Prog Rock on rare occasions...but, my collection of shoegaze from Auburn Lull, Curve, and of course Slowdive, have a constant rotation on my playlists still. Beautiful Noise, gazing forever...

[@seantobin4960]

i love your videos. i always loved this band but was in Australia then Singapore and this was pre internet and i had limited access to press on the music that i loved. i had zero knowledge of most of this history behind the band. i had no idea how badly they had been treated. so sad. i love that the band managed to find ways to persist in different ways, in mojave 3 and their solo acts etc, and to eventually return. they are legends.

[@wcg66]

The victory is that the British music press is a shell of what it used to be with traditional media being sent to the scrapper and what's left try to make do with scraps from the web. Slowdive, on the other hand, have triumphed.

[@shifty220]

Been waiting for a slowdive video!

[@Nick-yk4pq]

Love your videos, always happy to see a new upload

[@markpalmer9844]

Fantastic stuff. Of all your content this was the one that I wished had more of the songs. Thank you!!

[@JamieSuzanne.]

"Darklands" by the JAMC is one of the best albums I've ever heard. Every single song on the album is different yet flows. A masterpiece for sure.

[@ThreadBomb]

I find the second half a bit of a let-down. Have you ever heard the original demo version of 'On The Wall'? It's very different!

[@JamieSuzanne.]

@@ThreadBomb I enjoyed the entire album! It's definitely one of my top five of all time. The song "Fall" was probably my least favorite song on it. I'm curious which songs you didn't like? Yes, I don't care for the demo version at all! I'm glad they cleaned it up.

[@fenncarr3774]

I really love darklands . The guitar reminds me of New Order’s Love Vigilantes. “I want to see, my family, my wife and child, waiting for me”

[@JamieSuzanne.]

@@fenncarr3774 I just listened to it here on KZbin before responding and I definitely see what you mean! Every time I listen to "Almost Gold" it reminds me of another song that I just can't identify. 🤔

[@yubeta]

They really did come back with songs that are just as good as their classics. Such an achievement and a gift to us

[@WelkinStark]

A wonderful stroll through musical memory lane, featuring one of my most beloved bands ever! My gratitude runs deep for this.

[@samborn7120]

This is my favorite of your vids! Brilliant! Thank you! A side note: James Bradfield of MSP has Slowdive, Lush and Cocteau Twins on his ITunes playlist according to a publicist friend of mine 😅 Oh the irony… Souvlaki remains one of my all time favorites. I think the timing of that record was wrong. It seemed to come out at a time when the “fad” had worn off. Here in the States, Shoegaze never really died like it did in Britain. Slowdive’s comeback is a godsend and their new material is absolutely stunning. ❤️😊

[@greva2904]

It figures. Johnny Rotten wore that I Hate Pink Floyd t-shirt when he was in the Sex Pistols. He admitted years later that he’d been a massive Pink Floyd fan all along!

[@davidwatkins4286]

Manic Street Preachers are shite!

[@matthewphelps5136]

Why does Slomo never get mentioned? Such a great song. Don't know why is up there too.

[@DarkmanStudios]

I got teary eyed at the part when you started talking about the 2017 album Great documentary, thanks!

[@Dan-zr5em]

Enjoyed this, thanks for a fascinating mini doc.