Slowdive

I think Shoegaze is usually my alt subgenre of choice because the music could so easily be much worse. My Bloody Valentine could so easily become a boring drone, Ride could so easily become super radio friendly anthem dribble, and Slowdive could easily become airy Coldplay-esque nonsense. It, however, most definitely isn't. The song begins off key and from then on, something is always a little bit wrong. The guitars don't come in quite as clear as you expect, the whispery vocals become load, yet unintelligible sibilant gibberish, and just as the lead, if there is one, sounds like he's about to squeal into a "Time" style solo (2:52), he rockets himself, and the song, farther and farther into space. Rarely can a band sound so normal and yet still keep me so consistently on my toes.