While I love that shoegaze is in renaissance, here’s what’s wrong with it right now: homogeneity, uneven quality and rampant misuse of the term itself. All of this makes brand-new Orlando band Mary’s White Lie particularly noteworthy. Of the current reinventions in shoegaze, theirs is among the more novel and effective. While their fuzz-worshiping contemporaries are bending shoegaze down the 1990s alt-rock rabbit hole, Mary’s White Lie are taking a less-trafficked tunnel into moody indie-rock introspection.
Their seeds were first sown last autumn when Brett Bissey (Head Banned, Hoster) and Dylon Webb (Roger’s Only Son) joined forces for an indie cover-band battle. “Dylon and I first started writing together following a collaboration covering Elliott Smith songs as ‘Hoster’s Only Son’ for an Ugly Orange cover-band contest at Will’s Pub,” says Bissey. “After that show we wrote and recorded ‘Hello, Hello,’ and shortly thereafter we started writing and recording more songs and forming Mary’s White Lie.”
That creative union ultimately resulted in the new Stable of Stone EP, and now a full live quartet with the recent addition of bassist Dan Perez and drummer Marshall Prose. Although it packs the requisite noise to claim shoegaze, Mary’s White Lie’s music has an indie singer-songwriter’s heart.
Opener “Horsey” starts more window-gazer than shoegazer. But as the chorus approaches, the feedback rises and crests with big guitars. From there on, the duality is even more nuanced. “Nevermind (Used to It)” and “Hello, Hello” both begin like acoustic Elliott Smith-esque whispers. Gradually, though, the noise gathers like a waking groan, filling out just enough to swell but not overtake.
Unlike My Bloody Valentine’s smothering blanket, Mary’s White Lie’s fuzz is but a thread woven into a tapestry of atmosphere. It’s a fine, beautiful touch that treats shoegaze as a matter of style, not genre. And it’s made an auspicious debut for a promising new band. The beguiling Stable of Stone now streams everywhere.
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This article appears in Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2026.
