Initially an insult levelled by critics at the tendency of late '80s and early '90s British indie guitarists to stare at their feet, or their effects pedals, the term is now applied with a fierce, near-pretentious reverence.
In the modern era, it's used to aesthetically connote droning riffs and wall-of-sound effects of often disparate acts.
It has even prompted a backlash from musicians, with Mogwai's Stuart Brathwaite labelling it, "a dumb term made up by clueless NME idiots".
I'm discussing the baggage of the difficult term cramped between Dunedin band Astro Children (Mille Lovelock and Isaac Hickey) in the corner of an off-campus cafe, where we can't see our feet. The shy pair have an innocent take on the label, despite being tagged with it frequently.
Charming chanteuse and Morrissey-lover Lovelock tells me the term is all but meaningless.
"Shoegaze doesn't really mean anything to us. It's thrown around us a fair bit, but I don't think we fully understand what it means. It usually makes me think of something really sweet. I think I misread it when I was 13 or 14 as 'shoe-glaze', and now I think of it as something edible".
Childhood friends, vocalist/guitarist Lovelock and drummer Hickey have been playing together as Astro Children since late 2010, initially joined by bassist Steph Patchett. However, following Patchett's departure to Auckland, the group's sound has coalesced in new stylistic forms, the restrictive two-piece format forcing innovation in sonic architecture.
It has been a profitable loss for the young band, with one of the key introductions the use of heavy effects processing on Lovelock's melodic guitar lines.
With songs now built on swirling chords laden with phaser, reverb and distortion, the young duo are striking the perfect balance between songwriting chops and guitar gimmickry. Despite this change, their music remains bashful indie pop at its heart, certainly more aligned with the sweetness of "shoe-glaze", than its reductive shoegaze counterpart.
As Hickey explains: "We sound how we do now because we were trying to figure out ways to sound good without a bass player. It's forced us to do things we wouldn't have otherwise."
The shift is also paying off financially, with the pair's new hyperdrive pop taking second place at the recent OUSA Battle of the Bands, and a tidy cash prize. However, for the self-described "really competitive" Lovelock, the runnersup position was made personal, with boyfriend Nick Tipa and his band A Distant City taking the top spot.
"I wasn't sure how I should be feeling", laughs Lovelock.
"Of course I was like 'Yay, he won, but then again, I didn't.' I think we'll able to get past it."
With plans to use the winnings to finance a forthcoming recording session at art space and creative hub The Attic, the pair is looking forward to finally having the chance to set their tracks down.
"We're recording at the Attic in the semester break, with Lee Nicholson and Daniel Alexander. We're not sure if it'll be an EP or an album yet. I guess we'll just see how long we play for. It'll be great to have some recorded music."
If endearing, spaced-out pop music is your thing, keep your eyes skyward for Astro Children.
These are not shoegazers, they are stargazers.
- Written by Sam Valentine.
