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Hi Auntie!
You're right that a lot of goth stuff can definitely seem naff. Remember, though, that it's a current subculture that arose from a pop culture scene that was mostly created by the media (Melody Maker and NME) at the time, still desperately trying to be at the forefront of anything new so that they could recreate the heady days of punk again, when music journos were rock stars too. There's a reason all of the original generation of 'goth' bands never called themselves that, and still affect a pained look or get shitty when they're asked about it in interviews - as far as Eldritch, Smith, Sioux, Murphy et al are concerned, the label means nothing. The Sisters toured with the Birthday Party, The Cure were the experimental contemporaries to U2, the Banshees started out as the noisiest, artiest and most shambolic punk band in England, and Bauhaus... well, were kind of a diet Joy Division, as far as I can tell (never really liked them that much). It's the second generation who followed who ruined things for everyone... the bloody Nephilim, the Mission, etc, jumped on a scene bandwagon and drove it into the sea. Oh, sure, you'll find some old school goths in their mid to late thirties (hi, Stoatie!) bimbling on about how they weren't that bad really etc etc... no. No no. And any fan who had any sense of self-awareness found their tastes shifting as they grew older anyway. Even if they stayed alternative, it was less make-up, more piercings, or maybe more glam/burlesque, less cobweb/eye of horus. To paraphrase a great man (who was talking about communism) - if you're young and not a goth, there's probably something wrong with you. If you're older, and still a goth, there's definitely something wrong with you.
In other words - you're right about the naffness of gothness, but not all the bands and artists labelled as such deserve chucking out with the bathwater.
And Totem Polish is wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong. Trent Reznor rules, as do NIN. Probably not as much as he thinks he does, but he still rules. |
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