In Goth Daze (CD)

Goth - loved the early daze, BAUHAUS, JOY DIVISION, groups who kinda led the way for the Hardcore misery merchants, but found the tidal wave of blood-sippin', black cape-wearin', make-up-painted groups who flew out into the world from The Batcave to be very samey, mostly characterless and, only tolerable in small quantities among more inspired musical forms. This album features groups who at least try to change the format - some of the tracks here are quite commercial, some push the boundaries to almost escape the formative Rock backing and misery guts vocals. SPECIMEN offer two fairly passive, the first an almost Funky piece, the second more a Rockabilly derivative which seems to have both a sense of humor and a certain charitability. ALIEN SEX FIEND also contribute two - "I Walk The Line" with it's sub-CRAMPS Psychobilly twangy guitars and throat-rippin' vocals, and "Can't Stop Smoking" which might explain the voice, a clumpy-shaped, almost clumsy piece. Albums by BIG ELECTRIC CAT, SCREAMS FOR TINA, CHILDREN ON STUN and THE WAKE can be found elsewhere on this site, and receive surprisingly positive reviews. And as I have grown familiar with their music I must say each is strong enough for these tracks to be great but nowhere near their best! Favorite among them is the BIG ELECTRIC CAT track from their huge, under-rated album. Of the remainder - all are of an equal high quality - CARCRASH INTERNATIONAL offer us a rather passive calming post-JOY DIV journey through mainly low-key synthetics and samples - comparatively hi-tech with a deep, depressed song. ZERO LE CRASH I had never heard (of) before who twist the mood in totally the opposite direction, creating a happy hybrid of BOWIE and THE THE which has a slightly post-New Wave feel to it. LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT darken the room by adding a recording of a Nazi rally to the beginning of their piece - kinda mainstream Goth with the vocalist singing straight, rather than affecting a sub-GIRA moan. RED LORRY YELLOW LORRY - a name I'd never associate with Goth combine a lean, typical genre backing with a vocalist who manages to sound like a hybrid of early HUGH CORNWELL and IAN CURTIS. He hits that mumble tone we grew to associate with Goth. SWITCH BLADE SYMPHONY take the unusual step of using a female vocalist whose lightweight tones do nothing to destroy the muscle of the music. A popular group and you can see why - compositionally playful while never losing direction. And SKELETAL FAMILY - a favorite of JOHN PEEL's I recall - again female led with a kinda much more Rocky muscular take on BAUHAUS circa "Terror Couple Kill Colonel". You can see why they were a favorite - they have an almost naive appeal - like the axolotl which refuses to grow up throughout it's maturity.
Most of the names should be familiar to you if you're into this field of music - and this album should therefore appeal to you. As mentioned above, this has a certain lightweight feel to it, which appeals more to me than the more serious, somber approach. Still, entertaining as it is, I remain unconverted.