Admittedly, it's poor form to kick off a review of a compilation album by dwelling on what isn't included rather than what is, but the reality is that the omission of Cocteau Twins and especially My Bloody Valentine (for whatever reason - licensing, probably) is the elephant in the room as far as Waves Of Distortion is concerned. The inlay card even seems to deliberately echo the cover of Loveless.
If those absentees make a mockery of the compilation's subtitle, "The Best Of Shoegaze 1990-2022", so too does the fact that at least four of the tracks included date back to the 1980s. With a project of this kind, you inevitably have to draw the lines somewhere, but in this case the decisions seem very questionable.
Don't get me wrong - there's plenty to enjoy, whether you're an old fart wanting to check on the contemporary health of the genre or a young buck seeking a greater sense of your own band's lineage. But I'm afraid I couldn't overlook the fact that, with that subtitle, it's unjustifiably overselling itself.
Buzz review here.
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