The fist of shoegaze has punched time and time again so far in 2017, bands such as Slowdive and The Jesus and Mary Chain have both attempted to resuscitate the genre but with mixed success. The latest to add to the second coming is Ride, releasing their first album in 21 years and ensuring that even though the genre may have slipped and slumbered throughout the late 90s falling victim to the whirlwind success of Britpop and sublime intelligence of Radiohead – they can now breathe a response.

It’s impossible not to discuss the return of Ride without mentioning both Slowdive and The Mary Chain in the same breath, purely because the artists within this genre largely come part and parcel of the same conversation – particularly when they have released albums within the last three months. All were signed to Creation Records at the same time and largely all became musically irrelevant at the same time, Slowdive and Ride perhaps receiving the roughest deal of the lot when it all came crashing down. Slowdive’s success in May with their self-titled return to form felt complete, they stuck to their sound and, whilst they didn’t really receive their dues until long after their initial career had ended in the mid-90s, they certainly gained them this time around. The Jesus and Mary Chain, on the other hand, released Damage and Joy – at times glorious but on the whole, more stodgy than successful.

Ride, however, emerge slightly altered in 2017 – since their fallout in ’96, the band has been affiliated with the likes of Oasis, Hurricane No.1 and the aforementioned Jesus and Mary Chain. With touches of sprucing up, different musical directions and heavy production, Weather Diaries arrives as a solid return to form, at times wavering, but a brave step forward regardless.

The album goes through dips and peaks throughout its 11 tracks. When it thrives most is when it captures the essence of the live sound that Ride are synonymous with. ‘Charm Assault’, with its prog-inspired guitar and throbbing kraut verse, feels poignant and the album’s title track, which seizes that slow meander of shoegaze, grabs onto that wistful guitar reverb and slight phase before building into a blistering spasm of overdrive.

‘Lateral Alice’ is powerful, pulling on garage-rock influences from the likes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with a grueling rhythm section. Lyrically it flounders slightly as frontman Mark Gardener bizarrely sings stories of meeting the American author David Foster Wallace but he’s forgiven, as this is certainly Ride putting pressure on developing previous sounds. ‘Integration Tape’ is a brief but pleasant move into the sounds of ambience, whirling delayed sounds echo whilst Gardener’s voice perches nicely atop and ‘Rocket Silver Symphony’, whilst not quite taking in the bombastic live sound it requires, darts between keyboard samples and momentous choruses.

As Ride develop their sound in 2017, they tamper with electronics and samples and their approach is occasionally slightly like you could imagine from aging men. ‘All I Want’ feels slightly clumsy, falling into the obscure lands of early-00s experiments with new sounds, the same thing that saw the bogglingly synth-pop meander of Stereolab and Shiny Toy Guns. There’s always something slightly distressing about four men in their mid-40s toying with electronics for the first time – everyone has seen the embarrassing Dad videos, right?

The true highlights of the album hide at the end though, within the colossal dazzling guitar synchronisation of ‘Impermanence’ and the mammoth curtain call of ‘White Sands’ – a track that glides through the atmosphere before hurtling down through chasms of reversed guitars and harmonised vocals, ultimately what Ride did so well back in the early 90s.

The Achilles heel of shoegaze was always that it was a genre with one dynamic – frighteningly loud guitars (something which has led to tinnitus with every member of My Bloody Valentine), endearing mushy vocals and glittering soundscapes. Ironically, Ride seem to have waded into the unknown somewhat on Weather Diaries but the best material on the album certainly resides with their initial sounds.
Tom Churchill

Website: thebandride.com
Facebook: facebook.com/RideOX4
Twitter: twitter.com/rideox4