It can be impossible for artists to top a classic album, much less one right out of the gate. Britain’s Ride debuted with Nowhere in 1990, and alongside My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, it served as a foundational tent pole for shoegaze. But Ride never recreated their masterpiece, and they’re a better band for it. Instead, they spent the rest of the ’90s layering their honeyed wall-of-sound with hip-hop and pop. “Leave Them All Behind” became the band’s enduring mission statement, as hundreds of shoegaze wannabes popped up in Ride’s wake. A breakup in 1996 practically solidified the band in amber, and it was only a matter of time before they would sound ahead-of-the-curve again.
That moment hit at Fun Fun Fun Fest in 2015. Ride played Nowhere in its entirety, and its gooey sound slotted in perfectly with Toro y Moi, Future Islands, and CHVRCHES. And now, Ride is staying one step ahead yet again, staying together to put out its fifth album, Weather Diaries. The band gets a modern update, adding an electronic sheen to its past innovations. “All I Want” starts with sampled vocals, but it sprints into a gigantic, hooky chorus that sounds both airy and submerged under a guitar assault. It’s the sound of a band doing what it does best while speeding off into the future.
“All I Want” appears on Weather Diaries, out now.
–Art Levy // host, Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., producer, My KUTX
