It had been 20 years since shoegaze’s heyday in the United Kingdom when pockets of revivalists really began to surface noticeably across the globe. In Rome, Italy, in 2008 three different projects ranging from noise rock to dream pop merged their pedal boards together and formed La Casa Al Mare. Over time they evolved their sound in to etheric, psychedelic shoegaze which is as comfortable in 2022 as it would have been in 1993. It seems shoegaze is back.

La Casa Al Mare’s debut release was their EP, This Astro, back in 2015. 7 tracks masterfully selected to showcase the flavour of the band. As expected, the layers of sound are thick as porridge and encompass the listener from the outset. Alessio Pindinelli uses his guitar to paint wandering soundscapes of reverb and distortion that often contrast shockingly to his hazy and sparing vocals. In At All the band show their versatility with a much more melodic folk pop influenced number with muted drums and a much gentler blanket of noise leaving space for Pindinellis voice to come through. Similarly, Tonight or Never, a stripped back, dreamy, faux-acoustic number adds another face to La Casa Al Mare and variation to an EP that could too easily become overwhelming if the effects weren’t under control.

Since 2015’s debut La Casa Al Mare were slow to get back in the studio but a double A side, Otherwise/Autumn, was released in February 2021. Two songs so wildly different but delivered in characteristic style that is just as recognisable 6 years on from This Astro. Marco Poloni and Paolo Miceli’s rhythm section pulls Otherwise along at an entirely unexpected tempo and then slam the breaks on to soothe us back to sleep with Autumn. Although these guys are firmly grounded in shoegaze, a genre that sometimes struggles to find different gears, they have many angles to their sound and understand how to engage their listeners with anticipation and mystery.

Now that the unfortunate global events of the last couple of years are starting to take a backseat La Casa Al Mare are getting ready to hit the studio and finalise their long awaited LP. At a time when, the affectionately labelled, Italogaze is gaining steady popularity we expect to see great things from La Casa Al Mare in the years to come and since Pindinelli has stated ‘We see La Casa Al Mare playing music until death’ that could be a somewhat lengthy career! Keep an eye out this summer at lacasaalmare.bandcamp.com for the album and be sure to listen to that amazing back catalog on streaming services.