Having reached the 20 year mark between the present day and the late 80’s and very early 90’s and given the massive resurgence in liberal use of reverb, guitar fuzz and the word ‘shoegaze’ in the world of indie at the moment it's par for the course that we’ve seen reunions from the eras best bands on a large scale and reissues galore.

It’s been a good opportunity for the young music fan to discover some great music from the pre-Britpop age of indie, but worrying for bands knowing the acts they’ve been ripping off are about to be exposed to their young fans. One band that falls wrongly under the shoegaze banner is US trio Galaxie 500 who released three albums between 1988 and 1991, all of which are being reissued by Domino this March.



Forming in 1987 and consisting of guitarist Dean Wareham, bassist Naomi Wang and drummer Damon Krukowski, Galaxie 500 are a somewhat forgotten gem, only name checked by the coolest of bands and given the current climate in rock music could well be set to experience a revival in interest similar to that of The Velvet Underground in the 80’s, which funnily enough are their major influence.




All three records are almost identical in sound and characterised by deep washes of reverb drenched guitar jangle and basic, almost skeletal arrangements of bass and drums that twinned with Warehams wavering, wailing, woeful and sometimes heart-breaking raw vocal create not so much ‘dreampop’ as an entire dream world that swirls around so slowly it hypnotizes, broken only by otherworldly guitar solos that whilst not being technically impressive connect on an emotional level not matched since.



Debut "Today" contains the shortest songs but that's about the only distinction it has from its successors. Opener 'Flowers' contains everything that makes Galaxie 500 so special in perfect quantities and highlight 'Tugboat' has Wareham wailing from under a soft blanket of echo and reverb. The next two albums contain some of the most beautiful songs ever created, songs like 'Blue Thunder' and 'When Will You Come Home' on "On Fire" and the heavenly cover of The Velvet Underground’s 'Here She Comes Now' that closes "This Is Our Music".




The sum of the three albums is a collection of work that is so unique it would be impossible to replicate by simply connecting a few effects pedals together, picking around an open D chord and adding reverb to everything. The way the music fits together and moves toward a sonic paradise can’t be practised and planned out, it just happens with the right ingredients at the right temperature and volume. Galaxie 500 will not be reuniting for a tour this summer and likely will never return, but the latest batch of reissues prove they won’t be forgotten.


Released 22nd March 2010