No need to search very far for standout shoegaze – LSD and the Search for God calls San Francisco home. LSD and the Search for God have zeroed in on what makes good shoegaze good shoegaze.
LSD and the Search for God currently has two EPs out – their self-titled EP and Heaven Is a Place – released in 2007 and 2016, respectively. I’ve had the pleasure of having LSD and the Search for God in my rotations since 2023, but this was my first listen of Heaven Is a Place. Both of these EPs are definitely staying in my rotations going forward.
The first song I’d like to dive into is LSD and the Search for God’s opening track, This Time. This Time is a fantastic introduction to not just the EP, but the band as well. The layers of the distorted and fuzzy guitars across the front of the sound of the song create a really solid, noisy foundation for the song to build off. The interwoven, looped guitar melodies feel quite ethereal as they float over the foundational fuzz. This Time showcases a lot of characteristics of classic shoegaze music and is a fantastic execution of shoegaze.
Starting Over is my favorite song by LSD and the Search for God. It’s the fourth song on the self-titled EP, and is considerably more chilled out compared to the rest of the tracks. If This Time is a float, Starting Over feels like a drift. Starting Over is a much cooler-toned track, utilizing more distortion over the most forward sonic layers in the song. The cool-toned guitar melodies carry the song, but I really love how much more of the bass I can hear on this track; I can hear more of it in the chorus and it is a more obvious undertone in the verses as well. The prevalent distortion in shoegaze can sometimes make individual instruments disappear into the soundscape of a song, making it difficult to decipher or pick out each instrument, but Starting Over rolls the distortion back just enough for the melodic bassline to peek through.
(I Don’t Think That We Should) Take It Slow is another fantastic example of LSD and the Search for God’s fantastic understanding and interpretation of shoegaze. (I Don’t Think That We Should) Take It Slow is the second track off of Heaven Is a Place. There are several instances in which the drone overtone or general distortive effects on the song sound like cicadas. I’m not entirely sure how purposeful sounding akin to cicadas was, but I really enjoyed the inclusion since it created a really interesting contrast of this sharper ‘cicada’ noise over the softer fuzz of the distorted guitars. The vocals on this track are also quite gentle and really nicely supported by the looped guitar melody that you can hear behind the fuzzy droned guitars.
Closing out Heaven Is a Place and this double review is Without You, which is also the longest track in their discography! This track has the vocals taking more of the front seat compared to the fuzzy guitars, which has been somewhat of a trend throughout their music. I really feel like you can hear more of the vocals and melodic guitar in the verses on Without You compared to many other songs in their repertoire. It definitely has a bit of a melancholic tone, which is reflected in the song’s lyrics as well. I think it’s a really nice closer to the EP; it has an interesting sense of finality in both the instrumentation and the closing lyrics of the song, saying “…/ I’ve already said goodbye to them / You’ll never see me again / I’m gonna leave you behind / …”. I truly hope it isn’t the last we see of LSD and the Search for God!
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to the two EPs. Both LSD and the Search for God and Heaven Is a Place are stellar examples of well-executed shoegaze music. You can find LSD and the Search for God on Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, and wherever you stream your music.
