Shitgaze is a buzzword created by music journalists to describe a genre of music characterized by the use of musical instruments found in traditional rock and roll—guitars, drums, and keyboards—but recorded and played live in such an abrasive manner as to distort recordings and push amplifiers to their sonic limits. The emphasis of the music is usually on the treble end of the musical scale at the sacrifice of lower-end sounds, such as those emanating from bass guitars.
The term "shitgaze" was first said by Kevin Failure of Pink Reason in jest to describe the sound of Psychedelic Horseshit's album Magic Flowers Droned. The sobriquet "shitgaze" is an amalgamation of the name of another indie rock genre, shoegaze, of which shitgaze shares some common elements, and the word "shit", presumably because shitgaze recordings and performances regularly "push the needle in the red", i.e., they stretch the limits of their amplifiers to produce distorted sounds. In other words, according to San Diego CityBeat, "it sounds shitty".
The genre has its roots in the mid-2000s garage rock revival and lo-fi rock scenes, with an apparent nexus in Columbus, Ohio. By 2005, the city had birthed two of the first and most important bands of the new sound: Times New Viking and Psychedelic Horseshit, with the former releasing its debut album that same year. By the end of the year, other shitgaze bands began emerging, notably Los Angeles' No Age, who were quickly signed to Sub Pop Records and issued their debut album in 2007. Also that year, the aforementioned Psychedelic Horseshit released their own debut album, and Times New Viking released their sophomore effort, Present the Paisley Reich, which was well received by critics.
By 2008, numerous rock and roll bands in North America were performing, recording, and releasing music in the shitgaze genre. Portland, Oregon's Eat Skull and Calgary, Alberta's Women both released albums, as did Times New Viking yet again. Several other similar sounding bands, such as Guinea Worms, Blank Dogs, and Tyvek, released various 7" singles and EPs. No Age's second album, Nouns, was also released to much critical fanfare and success, bringing further attention to the emerging new sound. Shitgaze also has some crossover with and connection to current Post-Punk Goth and Deathrock. .
