New band alert: thistle.
One of the many things I never saw coming with the popularity of shoegaze was to see a whole new pack of subgenres emerge from what is essentially a subgenre itself (or really just a scene). If you had asked me what was going on even just a couple of years ago I may have only answered “nu-gaze,” which was more of term used to distinguish shoegazers that arrived after the original scene of the 1990s. But any Google, Spotify or Reddit search will turn up a number of compound words doubling as new subgenres that people really do believe exist.
As you can see, some people are understandably in denial (I will fight to the death that “American-shoegaze” is simply BS), but grungegaze is definitely something that has stuck. It’s not hard to imagine what this music sounds like, which is essentially shoegaze through a more distortion-heavy, rock-based sound. And so you have the likes of Narrow Head, Heavenward, Leaving Time, Day Aches, all under heaven, and the wildly-popular-but-I-do-not-get-it-all Superheaven.
While I do like some of those bands, I will say I don’t find any of them incredibly catchy, which is how I’ve always liked my grunge. So when a friend of mine told me about thistle. from Northampton, England I got excited because A) they’re a bit ‘gazey and B) a bit grunge-y, C) the music sounds lo-fi, and D) they actually know how to write hooks.
Formed in 2023 by Cameron Godfrey, Lewis O’Grady and Judwyn Rushton, thistle. haven’t exactly been inducted into the, uh, grungegaze scene yet, but they sure do blend those two genres better than any other band I can think of at the moment.
In just two years, the band put out a handful of tracks that just kept getting stronger. This has all culminated in an excellent debut EP released on Venn Records called it's nice to see you, stranger, in which I hear a little bit of Nirvana, My Vitriol, Ovlov, Idlewild and early Swervedriver in thistle., which is quite a heady concoction. It’s easily one of my favourite records of 2025 so far and thistle. really is the only band I will accept as grungegaze moving forward. Or rather, I think the band hit the nail on the head with their own description: post-shoegaze. Not to be a purist or anything, but let’s face it, post-shoegaze is basically what all of these newer bands are making these days.
I was doing my research and discovered that Creeping thistle is quite common to your area in England. Apparently it’s even called “Canada thistle” over here. Are any of you flower-heads or enthusiasts?
Lewis O’Grady: I was aware of the Creeping thistle as it is very common around here, but I think we all had in our heads the famous Scottish thistle when thinking of the name. None of us are really flower-heads, but we all appreciate nature, for sure.
What inspired the band to add a period to the name?
Cameron Godfrey: I would love to give you an awesome back story behind the full stop but to be completely honest I think it was just to make us stand out a little more.
I think most people hearing thistle. for the first time would assume the band is American. Would you say there are any traces of Britishness in the music? Does that reflect the music you grew up listening to?
Judwyn Rushton: We listen to a lot of American music, a lot of the material and influences that we reference come from the States. Cameron and I are both half American, so it feels very natural, the way we write.
I only know Northamptonshire from BBC’s Escape to the Country. What is the music scene like in Northamptonshire?
LO: The music scene in Northamptonshire can be very supportive at times. There isn’t as much infrastructure as other places but there is a surprising amount of music. There’s plenty of small venues you’ll find energetic teens bashing away in and a healthy scene for slightly more restrained styles of music. The sad thing about being a music fan in Northampton is that many of the larger venues have shut down or are no longer on the circuit, so you’re unlikely to see any big bands.
You’ll be releasing your debut EP, it’s nice to see you, stranger, on July 4. What would you like people to know about it?
JR: I think it took one million years to record, probably, but in reality we started recording the EP in June 2024 and finished mixing it in March 2025. It’s ridiculous to see written down but we didn’t take any time off to make it. Just fit in recording and mixing sessions when and where we could. That’s also why it’s an EP and not an album. None of us love working like that. I think generally we’d like to avoid the piecemeal approach from here on but we’ll see what’s possible.
Can I get a quick summary of how thistle. formed?
LO: So Cameron and I were in a separate band for years before called Tragic, we went through many bassists before finding Judwyn. We liked Judwyn so much we stopped making punk music, changed our name and started making shoegaze rock.
What are your influences?
CG: At the moment Autolux is probably one of the main bands that inspires us to write. They just have a really cool way of piecing songs together that I haven’t really heard other artists do before.
How did you discover shoegaze?
JR: I was exposed to shoegaze in college. It was a particular ‘90s band and I thought it was the most boring shit ever, coming from more hardcore and emo. I eventually came around to it after hearing Loveless, same as everyone else I reckon.
How did you discover grunge?
NIRVANA
What is your favourite shoegaze band?
What is your favourite grunge band?
NIRVANA
What is your food of choice while recording?
JR: We almost never eat when we’re recording. We drink a lot of coffee and, on special occasions, indulge in wine and beer.
What TV series does the band watch together?
CG: We are yet to watch a TV series together but we watch quite a lot of movies. The most recent one was Pitch Perfect.
What album is played most when the band is hanging out together or on tour?
JR: There's been a lot of Autolux’s Future Perfect lately. There was a period last year where I played ROSALÍA’s Motomami more than might be socially acceptable. I enjoyed it.
What is an activity the band does together outside of music?
We talk about climbing but have yet to do it together. We all work different jobs so we end up hanging out during practice and in car rides.
What other names did you consider for your band?
JR: We had a few kicking around before we settled on thistle. Some that I still really like: clipper, lefty, and silicon. If anybody wants to use any of those, go for it.
What is the hardest part of being a band?
JR: Maintaining any sort of work-life balance is always a struggle. The music is full-time work as far as I’m concerned, but work that I love and value so much. Then there’s the other full-time work - valuable in so much as it allows me to eat and pay rent. But when you layer it with writing and recording music, playing shows and all the other sort of design and admin stuff you have to do as a band, it gets really easy to burn out fast. I feel it often.
What is the best part of being a band?
JR: I am in love with writing and recording music and being around people who inspire me.
What is another band from Northamptonshire that fans of thistle. should know about?
JR: bloody/bath. They make anxiety-inducing music and are very good at it.
If you had to pick only one subgenre listed on your Bandcamp page to describe your music which would it be?
JR: Hard to say as, feels like we’re too close to it to really identify what we’re doing. It’s definitely lo-fi, but maybe post-shoegaze? First time hearing that as a genre label. We say shoegaze-adjacent a lot.
What are most of your lyrics are about?
CG: While we were writing the EP I was experiencing a drastic change in my life and I think that seeped through into the lyrics. Singing about all these feelings of bitter nostalgia have helped me let go of a lot of things that I’ve been holding on to. In past projects I wrote a lot of lyrics about things that angered me, and I think I was trying to be punk rock or something. This style of writing has never come naturally to me. I guess I’m not angry about much.
What is your favourite venue to play and why?
CG: I love playing at the George Tavern. It’s where we had most of our first shows and we met a lot of the bands that we hang out and play with today there. It’s the only “tavern” I’ve been to that actually feels like a tavern. It feels like a local is about to give me a quest whenever I’m in there.
What is your favourite record shop in the world?
Our locals: SpunOut and Abington Groove.