Upon returning from London recently, our good pal Math Head/Passions informed me that he discovered a strong, relevant and thriving scene of new Goth & Darkwave bands.  It seems the younger kids in the UK are moving away from the candy colored Nü-Rave scene and enlisting in the darkside. Im not all that surprised that London would be teh spot for a goth revival, i’m just surprised at how long it’s taken. Anyway I took his his claims about the bands being really good with a guarded caution. I’ve seen and heard many really awful goth revivalist bands… the whole scene itself is a fetish fantasy joke at this point so pardon my skepticism!

But trusting his musical opinion I decided to dig into these bands myself and see what was what. I have to be honest was really shocked at how good they were and how much I liked them! All of these bands so pitch perfectly replicate the sorely missed (at least by me) sound of the old Darkwave/Goth/Post-Punk days that might be fooled into thinking you just tumble don some long obscure 7″ of that era. Here is a smattering of some of créme de la créme that I found.

Ipso Facto
All girl group in the vein of early Siouxsie & the Banshees & Xmal Duestchland. I guarantee that by this time next year Ipso Facto will be indie darlings. Not only do they sound awesome, they also are 4 ultra-cute & stylish girls… who wouldn’t see the marketing opportunity there?

S.C.U.M.
The darkest of the bunch. equal parts Snowy Red, Sisters of Mercy & some Suicide for good measure! Really catchy in a dark way I suppose and the next best shot at indie stardom… but not unless Ipso Facto pave the way first (in my opinion).

Kasms
Female fronted Post-Punk in the vein of the Birthday Party, Gun Club and even a tad of Antioch Arrow & VSS. I really, really like Kasms, but then again the Birthday Party is one of my favorite bands. I like to call the style of Post-Punk Kasms does as “the melodramatic drunk”… listen and you’ll see what I mean

An Experiment On a Bird In the Air Pump
Another all female group. I’d like to think that this is what the Immaculate Consumptive (Marc Almond, Lydia Lunch, Nick Cave & James Thrilwell) would sound like on record… Well as long as Lydia Lunch had sung all of the songs.

Selfish Cunt
These guys tend to be more on that Chicago post-hardcore/industrial tip then staright goth or even post-punk. Think a very melodramatic Effigies, Scratch Acid and Even Big Black. A very abrasive beat centric sonic assault.

Unfortunately none of these bands have albums (Selfish Cunt being the exception), just a few singles. But I’ve linked their Myspace pages above for your listening pleasure! Ipso Facto is actually set to be in town playing an early show on December 6th at the Cake Shop! I know I’ll be there and so should you!

I’m actually kind of surprised that this scene which is making some serious noise over in the UK seems to be mostly overlooked by the major US music media. NME is on it what’s the delay Pitchfork?

Judging by the latest episode of South Park  “The Ungroundable“ you’d think that with all the surrounding Twilight the U.S. was fertile soil for a Gothic (or phony Vampire) invasion. So will this stick or even catch on here in the U.S. or will we be subjected to another year of an Indie Rock versions of Adult Contemperary?  Who knows? Either way I’m really enjoying it because the last time I found 5 really great new bands from one scene. I can’t remember the last time that’s happened!

- My Pal the Crook