Analysis of goth: Part 2, Goth in electronic music

The second installment of the goth saga will be addressing subgenres of electronic music that are popular within the gothic subculture. There is a lot to cover today, so I’ll cut to the chase.

The term “electronic body music” was coined by Ralf Hütter of Kraftwerk and popularized by DAF, Front 242, and Nitzer Ebb in the late '70s. Acts like Leæther Strip, Front Line Assembly, and Pouppée Fabrikk continued to use this label for their music. By the 80’s, it became somewhat of a buzzword in the early electronic scene due to its snappy name. Because EBM comes directly from Kraftwerk, there is a large emphasis placed on melody, minimalism, and clarity, as opposed to the industrial music occurring at the time, which was similar, but much darker and more complex. The most important distinction between EBM and old school industrial (besides the fact you can you can dance to EBM easily without looking like a maniac) is that it had enough melodic potential to grow and branch out into many genres, including being the mother genre for trance as a whole, which is a whole different proverbial can of worms.

(For reference: “Europe Endless” by Kraftwerk and “No Shuffle” by Front 242)

The awe-inspiring brilliance of synthpop lies within its very namesake. It was a revolution in contemporary music history in which synthesizer-driven music was not only accepted, but embraced by popular culture. With almost entirely English roots, synthpop’s success was a turning point in the history of electronic music. Although Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Schaeffer, and Kraftwerk all saw their respective share of success (or accosting attention at the very least), it was not until the synthpop revolution that electronic music became the fresh, hip, new thing. Being involved in the British electronic scene of the ‘70s was a crapshoot at first, as all parties involved were exploring an uninhabited landscape. It was not until The Tubeway Army released Replicas in 1979 with their smash hit “Are Friends Electric?” that synthpop really began to be pop. And when Gary Numan released "Cars" under his own name later that year, it is not difficult to understand the causation of the fixation on synth-driven music that followed. Soft Cell, Orchestral Manoeuevres in the Dark, and The Human League broke into the charts after Numan’s commercial success. Additionally, the likes of Culture Club, Depeche Mode, and New Order all assisted in their own rights to establish synthpop as the British phenomenon that it was.

(For reference: “Are Friends Electric?” by The Tubeway Army)

In 1983, a man named Sam Rosenthal founded his own record label out of Portland, Oregon called Projekt Records. Rosenthal used this as a vehicle to release his own music through his band Black Tape for a Blue Girl. As Black Tape for a Blue Girl’s popularity grew, so did Projekt Records. Other acts became part of Projekt’s roster, including Lycia and Attrition. In a short amount of time, the sound that these bands had projected became known as “darkwave.” This vast and sonically distant style of music, taking influence from ambient music in order to create spacious, otherworldly soundscapes. Projekt began accepting other acts in genres similar to darkwave, be it ethereal wave, dream pop, or shoegaze. 

(For reference: “Left, Unsaid” by Black Tape for a Blue Girl)

Historically, it would be appropriate to use the term “darkwave” as an umbrella for the ambient, effect-laden, post-punk-influenced styles of music coming out of the US (particularly from Projekt Records) during the ‘80s, but the dilution or evolution (which is unclear) of darkwave afterwards complicates matters. Darkwave groups began taking much more influence from EBM, synthpop, as well as electronic music as a whole, and acts like Clan of Xymox, Girls Under Glass, and Psyche dominated the “darkwave” scene. At present, it is difficult to distinguish what a pure darkwave sound is, as cross-pollinations of darkwave with trance, world music, neofolk, dark ambient, and many other genres have been prevalent with successful artists.

(For reference: “Just Like You” by In My Rosary)

Pioneered by ethereal wave group Dead Can Dance and film music duo In the Nursey, in the mid-‘80s, another flavorful convergence of styles is that of neoclassical and darkwave. Neoclassical darkwave artists generally take the old school Projekt-era darkwave sound and throw classical instrumentation, songwriting, and vocalization into the mix for either ambience or a grand, cinematic sound achievable only with classical, baroque, or chamber music timbres. This genre of music shares much common sonic ground with neofolk (Sopor Æternus & the Ensemble of Shadows) and martial industrial (Death in June) and there is often some overlap therein. 

(For reference: “Oxeia” by Love Is Colder Than Death)

Stylistically sandwiched between post-punk and Projekt-era darkwave, there sat a small movement in the late ‘70s French and Belgian underground called coldwave. The term “coldwave” was first used to describe Kraftwerk, Joy Division, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Some French groups like Asylum Party and Marquis de Sade adopted this dark atmospheric approach of production and performance (especially deriving influence from Siouxsie Sioux vocally) and released their brand of post-punk with a moody personality unique unto itself. This spread to Belgium where it was picked up by the likes of Siglo XX, Polyphonic Size, and many others. By the mid-‘80s many of the French and Belgian coldwave bands had broken up, and those who hadn’t broken through into the mainstream by then (the majority) were largely forgotten about until 2006, when painter Pieter Schoolwerth founded Wierd Records in NYC, which focused on releasing industrial, noise, EBM, post-punk, and coldwave records. The formation of this label was instrumental in the preservation of numerous French and Belgian coldwave bands and songs that would have otherwise been lost. Minimal electronics/minimal wave, a contemporary synth-driven post-punk/post-industrial musical movement with minimalist leanings is also widely associated with the coldwave scene. KaS Product and Twilight Ritual are two important acts in the genre.

(For reference, “Allez Allez” by Allez Allez and "Never Come Back" by KaS Product)

Taking root in trance and synthpop, futurepop was developed in late ‘90s Europe and had a clear, upbeat, techno-inspired sheen with an enormous sense of melody and chord progression. It took EBM’s place in the public eye during the time of futurepop’s inception. Apoptygma Berzerk, Covenant, Icon of Coil, VNV Nation, and several other groups broke into the European club scene with highly successful singles released at the time. Even as futurepop’s relevance was on the wane, the artists retained a loyal fanbase.

(For reference: “The Bomb” by Neuroticfish)

Keep watch for an article on industrial to come out before the end of this summer.

-Thus spake the Atma

Author’s note:

It is important to note that until the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, the inclusion of electronics in music was not a commonly held practice. As such, the distinctions between synthpop, industrial, EBM, etc. were made in hindsight - not while it was happening. At the time, it was all electronic music, and it would not be all that unusual to namedrop Einstürzende Neubauten and Depeche Mode in the same breath. In the BBC documentary Synth Britannia, Andy McCluskey of OMD is quoted saying, “People like ourselves and Cabaret Voltaire and the Human League all just got used to the fact that we existed.” It is striking that McCluskey groups the Human League (scribes of the sweeter-than-sugar synthpop hit “Don’t You Want Me”) with Cabaret Voltaire (who released their numbing seminal old school industrial powerhouse Red Mecca the same year) without flinching.

(For reference (and contrast): “Don’t You Want Me” by the Human League and “Split Second Feeling” by Cabaret Voltaire)

Suggested listening:

Kraftwerk - The Man Machine (’78)

The Tubeway Army - Replicas (’79)

Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal (’85)

Clan of Xymox - Medusa (’86)

Death in June - But, What Ends When the Symbols Shatter? (’92)

The Frozen Autumn - Pale Awakening (’95)

Black Tape for a Blue Girl - Remnants of a Deeper Purity (’96)

Depeche Mode - Violator (’99)

Sopor Æternus & the Ensemble of Shadows - Dead Lovers’ Sarabande (Face One) (’99)

Assemblage 23 - Failure (’01)

Various Artists - Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics, Vol. 1 (Wierd Records compilation) (’10)

Analysis of goth: Part 1, Goth in rock music

I hold goth in a special place in my heart. It is often wrongfully accused of many harsh criticisms found only in mainstream media. I sympathize with goth. It is not as easy as it appears to refer to a band or artist as “goth,” however. The term “goth” alone refers to a subculture in this day and age - not a style of music. I have heard everyone from The Velvet Underground to PJ Harvey to Soft Cell to Portishead being called goth. This is madness. It just has to stop.

To celebrate the beginning of the summer, I’m interested in doing a project to analyze all genres and subgenres typically championed by those in the gothic subculture. This article will focus on goth in rock music, the second will be about goth in electronic music, and the third and final installment will detail the history of industrial music, which I feel needs its own article altogether. So, goth, right?

The term “gothic” goes back quite some time. It first appeared in 12th century France to describe a form of church architecture, which was an elaboration of Romanesque architecture. Fast forward several centuries and the 19th century public began showing an interest in horror novels. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1818, Bram Stoker wrote Dracula in 1897, and Edgar Allen Poe wrote poems, short stories, and other depressing works in the early 1800s. In 1967, music critic John Stickney called The Doors’ single “The End” gothic rock. The most important usage of this word for our purposes, however, was when Joy Division’s manager Tony Wilson used it to describe their music, contrasting it from what was occurring in the mainstream.

England had a “post-punk landscape” in the late ‘70s, as gothic rock historian Pete Scathe describes it. Inspired also by the DIY attitude encapsulated by the Sex Pistols during the brink of the punk rock revolution, Joy Division’s sound mimicked Manchester, England’s bleak surroundings prevalent in the late ‘70s. Joy Division released the post-punk classic Unknown Pleasures in ’79 and followed it up the following year with a record filled with more mood, gloom, doom, and brood, Closer, which was by and large a blueprint for many gothic rock bands to come, who often borrowed from Ian Curtis’ unique vocal delivery (The Sisters of Mercy, She Wants Revenge, etc.).

(For reference: “Twenty Four Hours” by Joy Division)

In August of 1979, the Cure toured as Siouxsie & the Banshees’ opening act for their second album Join Hands. The Banshees' Steven Severin claims that the Cure's Robert Smith donned his signature look after playing with Siouxsie Sioux every night. In this way, these two acts helped to define the what came to be known as “goth” in the aesthetic sense, as both Smith and Sioux performed with their respective makeup-heavy fashion senses. The image at this time was equal parts punk rock and glam rock.

(For reference: “One Hundred Years” by the Cure)

Although Joy Division, the Cure, and the Banshees were probably the three bands most commercially successful that had any bearing on the yet-to-emerge goth scene, there were a handful of acts hugely important that gained most of their notoriety in the 1980s. Post-punk/proto-noise rock giants The Birthday Party revealed their B-movie gothic horror anthem “Release the Bats” in 1981 (with lyrics like “Damn that horror bat/Sex vampire,” what else but goth could they possibly be anticipating?). Killing Joke was another British proto-goth act that helped pave the way thanks to their minimal, bass-heavy style of post-punk. Their 1980 self-titled album yielded a handful of singles crucial  to gothic rock’s history.

(For reference: “Release the Bats” by the Birthday Party and “Requiem” by Killing Joke)

It is nearly unarguable, however, that there is no single band that helped sculpt and solidify the gothic rock sound quite like Bauhaus. By the time their debut single “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” dropped a few months before 1980, they had secured their place as the most important gothic rock act to date. They held a self-aware aloofness, tongue-in-cheek taste for the macabre, minimalist interest in gloomy atmosphere, and punk rock ethos in their arsenal. Perhaps the most extraordinary feat Bauhaus accomplished was to tie up any loose ends Joy Division, the Banshees, or anyone else had left. They had created gothic rock proper. 

(For reference: “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus)

It is no surprise that Bauhaus’ and their progenitors’ actions had sparked a bit of a revolution in England in the early-mid ‘80s. Several other bands began to follow suit in image, attitude, and the rapidly developing sound that can be characterized by nothing other than “gothic rock.” Other groups to play in this style are the Sisters of Mercy (latterly the Sisterhood and the Mission), Theatre of Hate, and Southern Death Cult. By this time, the term “gothic” was not in common circulation. In the February 1983 issue of NME, journalist Richard North described the developing movement as “positive punk” or “posi-punk,” which denoted gothic rock’s tendency to not incite riotous behaviors in listeners. Many gothic rock musicians detested the label, and the term “goth” became relevant shortly thereafter.

(For reference: “Black Planet” by The Sisters of Mercy)

The most iconic nightclub in the gothic subculture is none other than the Batcave in London, England. It was opened in July of 1982 by a man named Olli Wisdom to be a club that specializes in new wave and glam rock. Wisdom had formed a London deathrock band in 1980 called Specimen. Just as readily as Wisdom opened the Batcave, Specimen became the house band. Attention quickly shifted from new wave to deathrock and gothic rock, and the Batcave became the place to be for British goths and deathrockers. Other notable bands that frequently played the Batcave include Alien Sex Fiend, The Virgin Prunes, and Sex Gang Children. Not only was the “goth” look solidified by this point, it had become a cultural phenomenon.

(For reference: “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” by Specimen)

*Fun fact: Johnny Slut of Specimen is generally credited as the inventor of the deathhawk.

Simultaneously, there was a similar movement happening on the other side of the Atlantic. Los Angeles, California’s deathrock scene had been flourishing just as the London scene had. LA deathrock was more hardcore than post-punk, more shock rock than glam rock. The majority took influence from American punk rock and hardcore bands that had an affinity for the gruesome, such as the Misfits (pioneers of horrorpunk) and the Cramps (pioneers of psychobilly*) and darker British punk bands like the Damned. The aesthetic in LA deathrock bands took even more influence from horror camp and less from punk rock. Some of the more important bands from this scene (45 Grave, Christian Death, Kommunity FK), indulged in an Alice Cooper brand of morbid theatricalism, which fans of this style mirrored in their fashion.

(For reference: “Evil” by 45 Grave)

Taking root from darkwave (which will be covered in the following article), a particularly unusual gothic rock derivative began developing in the early 1980s: ethereal wave. Ethereal wave took inspiration from not only the usual suspects of punk rock and post-punk, but also ambient music, art rock, progressive rock, and psychedelic rock. This gave the traditional ethereal wave sound an expansive, dreamy, oft exultant tonality that was entirely unique until dream pop, shoegaze, and ethereal wave itself began stepping on each others’ toes in the second have of the decade. Dead Can Dance, Faith & the Muse, and the Cocteau Twins are important acts in this genre.

(For reference: “Will You Fade” by Love Spirals Downwards)

A problematic development in the history of goth in rock music was the conception of gothic metal proper. It is a blurry genre that can get entangled with the likes of doom metal, pop music, black metal, and darkwave. Nonetheless, there are some metal bands that have an undeniably gothic feel to their music. Type O Negative, Tiamat, Saviour Machine, and Moonspell are all deserving of the aforementioned title. Death/doom metal was pioneered by the Peaceville Three (Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Anathema), three British groups that all signed to Peaceville Records in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s that had a similar, emotional style of death/doom. This became a huge inspiration for bands like Type O Negative, and even the gothic-kissed rock band HIM. The gothic metal style is often seen as a subgenre of doom metal, and therefore tends to be slow, dirge-like, and massive. Influences from death metal, epic doom metal, and symphonic metal are also common.

(For reference: “White Slavery” by Type O Negative)

Stay tuned for Part 2, Goth in electronic music.

-Thus spake the Atma

*I chose to not make mention of the gothabilly genre, as the scene is so small, it is nearly insignificant.

Author’s note:

New Romanticism was a type of fashion and music popular in the ‘80s, wrongfully often associated with the gothic subculture. Although, both subcultures take influence from glam, they go about it in entirely disparate ways. One needs to look no further than a Google Image search of Boy George or Adam Ant to see the blaring dissimilarity. 

Suggested listening:

Joy Division - Closer (1980)

Siouxsie & the Banshees - Juju (1981)

Christian Death - Only Theatre of Pain (1982)

Alien Sex Fiend - Who’s Been Sleeping in My Brain? (1983)

Specimen - Batastrophe (1983)

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Talk About the Weather (1985)

The Mission - Gods Own Medicine (1986)

Cocteau Twins - Victorialand (1986)

The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland (1987)

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (1993)