Teen Gothic

I ran across some playlists with shoegaze and dream pop music, and I still can't differentiate one genre from the other, they're pretty much the same for me. Also, I've been listening to my bloody valentine, lush and Slowdive and I don't know if they're really goth bands. People tend to put Cocteau twins in the same box, but for me they're ethereal wave, am I wrong? Anyway, I don't mind listening bands that are not goth, I listen to metal as well, but I don't want to commit the mistake to classify/recommend bands telling my friends that they're goth, when they're not.