Glixen

My Bloody Valentine came out with what may be considered the prototypical shoegaze sound that had a clearly defined esthetic with their wall of distortion guitar work, hazy and mumbly vocals, and pounding drums. A lot of bands that came after branched off stylistically to create different mixtures. Los Angeles based Glixen, on the other hand, dives right in the middle of that original sound and plays it hard with their gliding, distorted guitar lines and muscular rhythm section. Vocalist Aislinn Ritchie rolls out a misty layer that sits barely on top of the fuzz. Their music is an unmistakable shoegaze experience, with all its essential components nailed down, built around melodies that may feel a tad looser than one would expect, and perhaps not as pained.