10 GAZE BANDS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE THEY TOUR AUS

Easily swept away in the rivers of shimmers and reverb shoegaze has to offer? Enjoy a harsher edge of metal, punk, post-rock or emo? Love the punk and droney edge of grunge? Here is my list bands you should know before they decide to tour australia - i wouldn't want you to miss out.

(disclaimer!! When considering this list I looked at last.fm and spotify listens as basic indication of how popular a band. This list has also been influenced by my own personal taste - so this will be subjective!!)

If you want a taste of the bands I'm DISCUSSING, you can find the link to a Spotify playlist HERE!

this is the sister post to my "10 GAZE BANDS YOU'VE probably NEVER HEARD OF - AND NEED TO" list - be aware there are a couple of cross overs!! you can read it here!!

I present you with my 10 GAZE BANDS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE THEY TOUR AUS

10. Shedfromthebody

(finland)

SHEDFROMTHEBODY's third album AMARE  explored vulnerable topics and bleak moods - it has me in a chokehold. Their latest album has a different vibe latest album EVERYTHING OUT THERE HAS TEETH is a masterpiece. it speaks so closely to love and loss - slapped with a blackgaze label, it lacks the distinctive harsh vocals and takes more of a chelsea wolfe approach with dreamy vocals paired with reverb soaked instruments.

9. All Under Heaven

(New Jersey)

I discovered All Under Heaven in 2023, deeply exploring shoegaze. Their 2021 EP Collider is an amazing release, and closely spoke to feelings I has at the time. It is melancholic with beautiful shimmers, making you drift into another plane of feelings. Those who like to drown themselves in music will enjoy this EP. In 2024, the New Jersey act released their first full length album, What Lies Ahead Of Me, has continued these themes in a new way and has really defined their sound.

8. Dosser 

(Maryland)

Dosser were #1 on my emerging bands list, and i love them so much. They fit the alt rock/grunge sound with rawer vocals and early 00s guitar tones, especially on their album Violent Picture/Violent Sound (which is a must listen, by the way). Dosser still has the effects heavy sound that comes along with a lot of gaze bands, and songs like ‘Caught In A Web’ they recline into that dreamy sound. 

7. Leaving Time 

(florida)

This band combined their first two EPs to create their first full length album, I+II. I think this was an interesting choice as this brought nothing new to their fans at the time, but listening to the album in retrospect, it really provides a great spectrum of the band. ‘Bloom’ was the track that really sold me on this band, the shimmer and heavy reverb keeps me company in low times. There is something about the epicness of Leaving Time’s guitars that speaks to something heavier the band is capable of, and I could see them travelling down a heavier route in the future. 

6. Cloakroom

(Indiana)

This was a band I really wanted to place higher on my list, but I think they're finally starting to get the recognition they deserve. Cloakroom are sometimes labelled as doom metal as well, with their fuzzy, droning guitar and often slower tempo. Time Well was the first album I'd heard by them, sucked in by the depressive vocals and air that hangs heavily by the album. Their 2025 album, Last Leg of the Human Table, leaning further into the heavy sound. If you're looking for the best parts of doom and gaze - I can't recommend Cloakroom enough. 

5. graYWAVE

(uk)

maybe graywave should have been on my other list, maybe, but i think they're a force to be reckoned with and i think will come out of nowhere one day. very heavily drenched sound, almost like rocks beneath a stream of water, where every lyric, note, and beat blends seamlessly together to create swaths of gorgeous sound.

4. Bleed 

(texas)

Another band I thrashed through 2023. Another band I briefly reconsidered for this list with the success of 2021’s Somebody’s Closer. Bleed has an edgier bite to it compared to some other gaze bands, and leans a lot more into the alternative rock/grunge side of the genre. It still has some of that shine and air you want from shoegaze, but is on the heavier side. They have found the crevice between three different genres to plant their feet and have certainly made their mark on the genre. 

3. Slow Crush 

(Belgium)

Slow Crush are more ethereal with their sound, Isa Holliday's vocals are gentle and dreamy. One thing I really enjoy about Slow Crush is that their mix is really well balanced and the vocals are mixed through the sound. Their 2018 release, Aurora, does this really well with Holliday's angelic voice mixing through the saturated grunge sound. There is a lot of stripped back air and blank spaces in this album, which let's you soak in the sound. 

2. Superbloom 

(New York)

For ages I kept hearing Pollen and thinking this release had been around for the last decade, as it felt so familiar to me. When I decided to put it on one day, I realised that it was the perfect mix of late 90s/2000s grunge, fuzzy and raw, with the saturated guitars I love from shoegaze releases. Fans of Superheaven (catch that tour in 2026!!) and Smashing Pumpkins will love Superbloom.

1. FAETOOTH

(CALIFORNIA)

Faetooth have had an incredibly fast rise to fame, their 2022 release remnants of the vessel took doomgaze/fairy doom to the forefront of people's minds, the fuzzy slowburn metal mixed with beautifully dead sounding vocals had everyone in a chokehold. in 2025, they have toured america with belgium group, slow crush, and released their second full length album, labyrinthe. if you pride yourself on being first on the hype train - check faetooth out now.

IF YOU'RE A SPOTIFY USER, PLEASE CONSIDER CHECKING OUT THE PLAYLIST i'VE PUT TOGETHER OF WHAT i FEEL ARE THE BEST TWO SONGS FOR EACH BAND HERE, OR CONSIDER PURCHASING MUSIC DIRECTLY FROM THE BANDS THROUGH THEIR BANDCAMP (CLICK ON THEIR NAMES) - THIS ENSURES THESE HARD WORKING ARTISTS MAKE MORE MONEY PER SONG, AND THAT IT'S YOURS FOREVER.