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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