A little mini-rant for you all. Please excuse any typos and/or long rambling sentences. This is being
written on a very sleepy brain which needs to go to bed soon before it
crashes.
One of my biggest pet peeves has to be when you see/hear people go on a big rant about how Goth music is 'Dead' or that it was 'So much better back in the day' or, here's the best one, 'There aren't any good Goth bands anymore'. I'm sorry, but where have you been living? Of course the music isn't going to be the same as it used to be. Even individual bands change their sound by album. (And there's enough complaint about that) Sometimes it's for the better, sometimes for the worse, but without change there wouldn't be any growth, and scenes would remain stagnant, living on dreams of the past. That's no way to keep a subculture alive! And seriously, tell me that 'Goth' bands from the past didn't mix up their sound as well.
There are plenty of newer bands out there that are Goth, or at the very least, extremely Goth-friendly. There's no need to be stuck in nostalgia and focus only on the old stuff. Granted, appreciation of the old scene is fantastic and yeah, necessary. When we've got roots as awesome as ours they need to be preserved. I feel really weird if I don't put on my Bauhaus record once every couple of weeks. Still, sometimes people need to let go and move on. Don't like the old stuff simply because it's the old stuff when there are so many ways you can branch out. If I were to go out and make a list of the Goth bands still performing today it would be considerably long. Add the aforementioned Goth-friendly bands and the list would never end!
Not to mention, with attitudes like 'Goth is dead' how are we supposed to encourage newcomers to the scene? We need fresh blood to keep it alive, and discouraging them by only having a negative attitude towards the current scene is hardly going to get people motivated to explore the subculture. I'm actually not sure why people even think Goth is dead. You only have to look around the internet to find that there's a huge net.Goth scene. Look at all of us bloggers! And last time I went to Sweden, I spotted quite a few fellow darkly inclined people in the city. There seems to be no end of alternative models these days, and I'm sure we can all name a few current Goth icons strutting at the forefront of the scene.
My point is, if you ever hear someone complaining about the lack of Goth music, smack them lightly upside the head for me and then very politely start reciting a list of bands they should look into, or at the very least, grudgingly accept as 'Not Dead'.
One of my biggest pet peeves has to be when you see/hear people go on a big rant about how Goth music is 'Dead' or that it was 'So much better back in the day' or, here's the best one, 'There aren't any good Goth bands anymore'. I'm sorry, but where have you been living? Of course the music isn't going to be the same as it used to be. Even individual bands change their sound by album. (And there's enough complaint about that) Sometimes it's for the better, sometimes for the worse, but without change there wouldn't be any growth, and scenes would remain stagnant, living on dreams of the past. That's no way to keep a subculture alive! And seriously, tell me that 'Goth' bands from the past didn't mix up their sound as well.
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| Talk about change? The Cure are the masters of it and yet we love them anyway. Half of their stuff couldn't possibly be considered 'Goth' by traditional standards. |
There are plenty of newer bands out there that are Goth, or at the very least, extremely Goth-friendly. There's no need to be stuck in nostalgia and focus only on the old stuff. Granted, appreciation of the old scene is fantastic and yeah, necessary. When we've got roots as awesome as ours they need to be preserved. I feel really weird if I don't put on my Bauhaus record once every couple of weeks. Still, sometimes people need to let go and move on. Don't like the old stuff simply because it's the old stuff when there are so many ways you can branch out. If I were to go out and make a list of the Goth bands still performing today it would be considerably long. Add the aforementioned Goth-friendly bands and the list would never end!
 |
| Decades later and we're still staring at Peter Murphy's cheekbones. A pastime I indulge quite often, but there are new musicians to fawn over as well. |
Not to mention, with attitudes like 'Goth is dead' how are we supposed to encourage newcomers to the scene? We need fresh blood to keep it alive, and discouraging them by only having a negative attitude towards the current scene is hardly going to get people motivated to explore the subculture. I'm actually not sure why people even think Goth is dead. You only have to look around the internet to find that there's a huge net.Goth scene. Look at all of us bloggers! And last time I went to Sweden, I spotted quite a few fellow darkly inclined people in the city. There seems to be no end of alternative models these days, and I'm sure we can all name a few current Goth icons strutting at the forefront of the scene.
My point is, if you ever hear someone complaining about the lack of Goth music, smack them lightly upside the head for me and then very politely start reciting a list of bands they should look into, or at the very least, grudgingly accept as 'Not Dead'.
I am 32 and I have only found a couple new goth bands (formed in the last decade) that I would say are decent. Most sound terrible to me. You are correct in that the Swedish music scene, as well as the Swedish horror-lit scene are a saving grace.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit that the bands nowadays can't even compare to the originals. I don't think there's much of a chance any band ever will. BUT I also think that it's bad to dwell only on the old stuff and that it's a good idea to watch for new bands :D I have hope that someday there'll be someone who can at least come close to rivaling some of the giants. I do like quite a few newer bands, but to each their own ^^
DeleteAnd you're certainly right about that! From what I saw in Sweden it seems like quite a few scenes are alive and well. It's one of the reasons I'm considering following my parents' suggestion of studying there for a year or two. The other being that I absolutely love the country and I have a lot of family there :)
I also hope to find amazing new bands! I'm glad that your generation is taking the initiative to search out the good bands and give recommendations. I swore, when I was in high school, that I would never get stuck, like all the older people I knew, listening to the same bands from childhood into adulthood- BUT I DID! :). It sucks, because I'm so bored of listening to the same stuff over and over. Bands/Artists like The Knife and Fever Ray are honestly more in the vein of current acts I enjoy. You also have to realize/I need to realize/ that every generation is brought up with some sense of specific musical aesthetic. Le sigh! Oh and guess what? My great-grandmother came to America from Sweden. Awesomeness is in the blood!
DeleteWe've all got to band together and find the good stuff ;) I hate it when I get bored of things on my Ipod because I know it means I've listened to things too much, but I still remember how much I used to love the song. I start worrying about getting tired of my favorites and seek out new stuff in advance XD I'm going to go check out The Knife. You've sparked my interest ^^
DeleteMy parents both moved here from Sweden so the rest of my family is still there. We go visit every couple of years and we've considered moving back. Though I think we're headed to Canada next. Sweden's a fantastic place with fantastic people :)
Amen to that!
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of good current Goth bands and a quick google search or look on Goth.net will bring up heaps of options. Besides that there are also heaps of bands from the original Goth days that people don't often note when talking about Goth bands. It annoys me a bit when people always list the same top five (which are amazing but there is so much more). You could live off the old-school music alone for centuries without running out of new bands to stumble across.
Some people live by those Top 5 XD You're totally right about branching out with the old music as well. I've been planning on seeking out the more obscure bands from that time ^^
DeleteYup, I guess I'm not technically a goth, I prefer different music! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a 60s music person, mostly mod in music tastes! Of course, I do love some good punk too! I love The Who, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Small Faces, The Beatles, Oasis, R.E.M, The Coral, The Clash, Queen, The Ramones...
Need I say more? ;)
The Coral is quite goth-friendly (expectially the album Invisible Invasion!)
.... Peter Murphy's cheekbones...
'nuff said.
60s music is great too :D I don't know very much as the 80s is more my era :D David Bowie...words cannot describe how much I love him. The Clash and Queen are two others with a home on my ipod XD I've never listened to The Coral so I ought to go look them up :)
Delete...those cheekbones. *swoons*