Wales-to-Los-Angeles transplant Michael Aston cited the usual “creative differences” when he quit the glammy, likable-but-mindless Gene Loves Jezebel in 1990, leaving fans to wonder what musical direction the singer would follow in his new project, a quartet called Edith Grove: back to his gothic roots? Maybe a move into less stylized territory? Nah, the slick,…
After Bauhaus, singer Peter Murphy joined Mick Karn (ex-Japan) and a no-name drummer to form Dalis Car, whose one album mixed Japan’s sensuous sound with Bauhaus’ obsequious lyrical constructs. As a mellifluous noise, The Waking Hour is fine, if a bit heavy on the bass; dig any deeper, however, and what you get is a…
The Wake does its best to modernize Bauhaus/Sisters of Mercy-style goth and, for the most part, succeeds. On Masked, the Columbus, Ohio quintet’s unique sound, simultaneously ambient and sinister, can mainly be attributed to guitarist Rich Witherspoon and keyboardist Robert Brothers. Carefully arranged and executed songs like “Sideshow,” “Silent Siren” and “Masked” best display their…
San Francisco’s Xorcist (actually just Peter Stone, who goes by the name “Bat”) specializes in “torture tech,” the most brutal, unrelenting form of industrial music. Damned Souls would make a fine soundtrack to any Clive Barker film; death and destruction imagery pops up all over the place, wanting nothing more than to scare the water…
Edinburgh-born singer/guitarist/pianist Mike Scott formed the Waterboys in London, singing bombastic folky rock derived in equal parts from U2, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. On The Waterboys (and its five-song American condensation, later supplanted by a belated issue of the entire LP), Scott, saxophonist Anthony Thistlethwaite, an organist and various rhythm players squeeze every ounce…
Elyria, Faith & the Muse’s contribution to the Southern California goth scene, proves it worthy of a more careful listen than most of the band’s black-shrouded peers. Founders Monica Richards (ex-Strange Boutique) and William Faith (who has played in such leading acts as Christian Death and Sex Gang Children) skillfully combine haunting romanticism with Celtic…
