Dream pop, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Rock 1954
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
The Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
The Beatles, Revolver (1966) - 2 Then
Alternative rock 1985
An umbrella for everything that grew outside commercial radio and then conquered it. Defined originally by the college-radio network, not by any one sound.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Pixies - Doolittle. Cobain admitted he was simply trying to write a Pixies song.
Pixies, Doolittle (1989) - 3 Then
Shoegaze 1989
Walls of cascading guitar effects with the vocals buried in the mix. Named after the habit of staring at the pedalboard on stage.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless. Nobody has yet reproduced the sound exactly.
My Bloody Valentine, Loveless (1991) - 4 What you asked about
Dream pop 1985
The same reverb haze, but with the melody left on the surface and the tempo slower.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas. You won't follow the words, and it doesn't matter.
Cocteau Twins, Heaven or Las Vegas (1990) - 5 Where to go next
Midwest emo 1994
Open tunings and interlocking arpeggios, odd meters and lyrics about autumn and empty rooms.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
American Football - Never Meant. That opening guitar figure is a whole genre.
American Football, American Football (1999)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Dream pop descends from, in order. Dream pop has no subgenres, so the last step is the genre that rates closest to it by sound.