Yes, it's the "S-word." Shoegaze...of all the media fabricated sub-genres that we talk about on O3L, this is one of the most polarizing. The term was coined with some derision about the crop of artists that came up in the late '80s/early '90s who spent much of their stage time looking down at their effects pedals. Even many of the bands who are most closely associated with the term rebuke the label. On the other hand, the word conjures up a glorious, beloved sound that continues to resonate with musicians and fans to this day: walls of woozy, beautifully sculpted guitar noise, drowned out but ethereal vocals, dreamy, insistent beats, all bathed in swathes of reverb and echo. The Extended Play (EP) was a format that was well suited for this music, so that's our focus on this episode.

While we may associate the heyday of shoegaze with the amazing groups that burst onto the UK scene, its influence spread across the pond. Case in point is our Third Lad this week, guitarist Archie Moore, who spent the first part of the '90s simultaneously in THREE seminal Washington, D.C. area bands who took cues from fizzy UK indie - Black Tambourine, Lilys, and Velocity Girl. If that wasn't enough, Archie and his friends also co-founded one of the legendary American indie labels, Slumberland Records.

Velocity Girl was the stuff that '90s indie pop dreams are made of: Named after one of the coolest songs, fronted by the impossibly cool Sarah Shannon, recording for one of the coolest labels (Sub Pop), staples of alternative radio and MTV's 120 Minutes with hits like "My Forgotten Favorite" (also prominently featured on the Clueless soundtrack), "Crazy Town," "Sorry Again," and "I Can't Stop Smiling." We caught up with Archie the day after Velocity Girl's first gig in 21 years at the anniversary bash for legendary D.C. club The Black Cat. They also will be playing the Bowery Ballroom in New York on September 30th before returning to The Black Cat on December 1st. Catch them if you can!

Songs:

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