For a genre that had shuffled out of the spotlight by the mid 90s, shoegaze is in remarkably rude health in 2017. Two months on from the well received return of Slowdive comes another assured effort from one of the genre’s big beasts, Ride, releasing their first album in 21 years.
But where Slowdive’s new self-titled album felt like a meticulously preserved rendition of the feedback-swaddled sound the band were producing in their heyday, Weather Diaries sees Ride broaden their horizons. Producer Erol Alkan (he of Boyz Noise and legendary club night Trash fame) has buffed the band’s sound to an appealing sheen, bringing out a sense of melody that previously could only be glimpsed through the fuzz. The result is an album that strides confidently between garage rock (Lateral Alice), ambient (Integration Tape) and even prog (lead single Charm Assault). It’s all tidily done, and there’s barely a misstep, but it’s notable that the album’s two best tracks – the woozy jangle of Cali and the skyscraping closer White Sands – are the ones that trade on the band’s shoegazy past glories. Sometimes the old ways are the best.
