Ride

With their first records, Ride created a unique wall of sound that relied on massive, trembling distortion in the vein of My Bloody Valentine but with a simpler, more direct melodic approach. The shatteringly loud, droning neo-psychedelia the band performed was dubbed shoegazing by the British press because the bandmembers stared at the stage while they performed. Along with their initial influence, My Bloody Valentine, Ride stood apart from the shoegazing pack, primarily because of their keen sense of songcraft and dynamics. For a while, the band was proclaimed the last great hope of British rock, but they fell from the spotlight nearly as quickly as they entered it.



Ride were formed in Oxfordshire, England, in 1988 by guitarist/vocalist Andy Bell, vocalist/guitarist Mark Gardener, bassist Stephan Queralt, and drummer Loz Colbert when the group was still in its late teens. The band soon earned a dedicated following through their blisteringly loud, intense live shows. Creation Records signed the band in 1989 and the group released its self-titled debut EP later in the year. Not only did the British music critics praise the Ride EP, but it climbed into the lower reaches of the U.K. charts.

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