For a minute there, San Francisco-based indie records label 415 Records had one of the coolest rosters of the late 70s/early 80s, including Romeo Void, the queer band Until December, and Pearl Harbor and the Explosions. West Coast punk band Translator, another of 415's bands, managed to score a college radio hit with the song "Everywhere That I'm Not" (said to be about John Lennon), one of 22 songs included on the compilation Sometimes People Forget (Omnivore). Translator knew how to get into people's heads and feet on "Necessary Spinning," "Eraser" and "Standing in Line."
Out of print for several years, OX4_: The Best of Ride (Sire/Rhino) has been reissued on CD and vinyl just in time for seminal Oxford shoegaze band Ride's 2015 reunion tour. Grindy but melodic like fellow Brits My Bloody Valentine, Lush, Curve and Catherine Wheel, Ride released one masterpiece, its 1990 major-label debut Nowhere, then never lived up to its promise. Songs from Nowhere , including "Vapour Trail" and "Dreams Burn Down"; from Going Blank Again (the poppy "Twisterella" and lengthy "Leave Them All Behind"); Carnival of Light ("From Time to Time" and "How Does It Feel To Feel?") and later Ride albums make up the bulk of the compilation.
A slightly more obscure shoegaze outfit, Blind Mr. Jones only has two albums to its credit, the second of which, Tatooine (Saint Marie) from 1994, has been reissued in a remastered edition. Alternately mellow-psych ("Hey") and pop-punk ("Disneyworld"), Blind Mr. Jones can also see its way to making accessible pop on "What's Going On" and "Surfer Baby."