goth Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Palm Ghosts “I Love You, Burn in Hell”

sfilzen — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 19:45:41 +0000

Palm Ghosts “I Love You, Burn in Hell” released today, November 10th, 2023. Moody and modern, dreamy post-punk synthpop via Nashville. Sweet Cheetah / Poptek, Sell The Heart Records. If I had just stumbled across this album rather than put in my pre-order from Palm Ghosts’ Bandcamp page, I would swear its release date was closer to November 10th, 1981. Their highly accurate bio says they are “the sound of an 80s prom in a war zone…More at home in rainy Manchester, the quartet weaves cinematic dream pop and new wave with brooding post punk. Embracing their 80’s idols, like New Order, The Cure, David Bowie, John Carpenter and even Divine, Palm Ghosts take the genre to soaring new heights.” I think it’s their 8th LP (their first came out in 2014) and it’s a really great record and totally appeals to my musical root-love of 80’s synthpop and gothy post-punk. My top tracks are the danceable “She Came Playfully” and “Automatic for the Modern Age.” On those tracks, plus a lot of others, there’s an early 80’s anthemic soaring guitar sound reminiscent of U2’s Edge and Big Country, but darkened with a very heavy Cure, Joy Division and Siouxsie sensibility. “Fault Lines” is another favorite – it’s not quite as dancey (though it does have a great beat) – and I can imagine it, with its sound and lyrics, playing out the credits in a John Hughes film (this is a good thing!). I think what I am especially appreciative of with Palm Ghosts is that the guys in the band are (in my estimation) around my age (we saw them perform the past couple of summers up at Mile of Music in Appleton) – so they heard the 80’s sound in real-time. But the record does not feel nostalgic, instead it expresses their musical roots and that interpretation of the sound 40+ years on.

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Bauhaus “Burning From the Inside”

sfilzen — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 17:59:38 +0000

Bauhaus “Burning From the Inside” 1983. Today, July 11th, is Peter Murphy’s 65th birthday (b. 1957). Burning From the Inside was Bauhaus’ fourth LP and would have been their last – they broke up before its release – but they got back together to record another over 20 years later, the 2008 album Go Away White. Murphy was very ill during Burning‘s writing and recording (his absence during much of the processes was one factor that led to the band’s dissolution) so “Who Killed Mr. Moonlight” has David J on vocals and “Slice of Life” features Daniel Ash. It’s a dark and gothically beautiful record: the best track is also its most successful “She’s In Parties.” That track, according to Allmusic, was written much earlier in the band’s history and they dug it up, needing more material due to Murphy’s sickness. It ended up being Bauhaus’ last released single and it went to #26 in the UK. I also really like the industrial-goth “Honeymoon Croon,” the Bowie-glam styled “Kingdom’s Coming” and the title track “Burning From the Inside,” a 10 minute epic hallucinatory journey that apparently was inspired by a hash-smoking incident where the inside of a car started on fire.

I’ve seen Love and Rockets (in ’89), Peter Murphy (solo in 2016) and Pop Tone (Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins, along with Haskins’ daughter Diva Dompé in 2018) perform but thought Bauhaus was something that would always remain out of reach. BUT! The original lineup has gotten back together to tour this fall and we have tickets to see them in Detroit.

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The Cure “Seventeen Seconds”

sfilzen — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 18:00:29 +0000

The Cure “Seventeen Seconds” released 42 years ago tomorrow, April 22nd, 1980. Fiction Records. Today, April 21st, is The Cure’s mastermind Robert Smith’s birthday (b. 1959). Seventeen Seconds is The Cure’s second LP, the first to feature Simon Gallup on bass after original bassist Michael Dempsey’s departure; they also added Matthieu Hartley on keyboards (both were formerly in the post punk band Magazine Spies). Infused with dark, ambient “gloomscapes,” Seventeen Seconds is widely considered to be one of the first goth rock albums. One reviewer says about “The Final Sound,” [it is] “so positively gothic you could almost be fooled into believing that it was lifted from the soundtrack of some Hammer horror gorefest.”

I absolutely adore Seventeen Seconds and vividly recall the first time I heard the single “A Forest” (#31 UK), sometime in the early-to mid-80’s on an old King Biscuit Flour Hour radio show recording, probably rebroadcast on a local college station. I was totally transfixed: blown away by the music’s ability to bring up feelings and experiences that I had in no way ever experienced (I would have been about 12 or 13 years old with zero concept of what “goth” was. Up to that point my reflections on forests included Girl Scout camp, which I loved, and picking berries or looking for rare flowers with my mom, which I hated – bugs, mud, getting scratched by pickers and branches, etc). My other favorite songs are “Play For Today,” the darkly jangled “M” and the title track “Seventeen Seconds.” Seventeen Seconds went to #20 in the UK and 40 years after its release, squeaked onto the US charts at #186 in 2020.

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Siouxsie and the Banshees “Juju”

sfilzen — Sun, 06 Jun 2021 14:00:44 +0000

Siouxsie and the Banshees “Juju” released 40 years ago today, June 6th, 1981. A darkly gorgeous gothic post punk masterpiece, it’s considered a landmark release for the genres. The Banshees fourth LP, Juju went to #7 in the UK. They released two singles: “Spellbound” (#22 UK) and “Arabian Knights” (#32 UK). Also notable is “Halloween,” which sees a lot of airtime in October in this house. It’s really one of the best Halloween songs ever: danceable, edgy, dark and catchy. Actually, that sums up the entire album, including the great tracks like “Into the Light,” “Sin In My Heart” and “Head Cut.”

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The Cure “Standing on a Beach”

sfilzen — Thu, 06 May 2021 19:24:21 +0000

The Cure “Standing on a Beach” released 35 years ago today, May 6th, 1986. The album includes 13 of The Cure’s singles from 1978-1985 and is one of the best comps out there. It leads off with “Killing an Arab,” their first single from late ‘78 (it was later included on the US-only album Boys Don’t Cry, 1980). Other favorite Cure singles that appear are “A Forest” (also on Seventeen Seconds, 1980), “Primary” (their only single from Faith, 1981), “The Hanging Garden” (the sole single from the 1982 album Pornography), “The Walk” (included on the ‘83 comp Japanese Whispers; it went to #12 in the UK, their first top 20), “The Caterpillar” (the only single from The Top, 1984) and “In Between Days” from The Head on the Door (1985) which hit #15 in the UK and was The Cure’s first single to make the Top 100 in the US, going to #99.

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The Cure “Lovesong”

sfilzen — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 15:57:32 +0000

The Cure “Lovesong” 1989. 12″ single. Today, April 21st, is Robert Smith’s 62nd birthday (b. 1959) so I’m spinning The Cure’s most successful U.S. single. “Lovesong” made it to #2 on the US charts (#18 UK), their only Billboard Top 10. “Lovesong” was the third single from 1989′s Disintegration and it’s a straight-up love song lyrically, though beautifully and melodically dark musically. The 12″ single has two versions: “Love Song (remix)” which is basically indistinguishable from the album version, and “Love Song (extended remix)” which is extended, obviously, and has some extra effects but nothing too crazy or different from the original (and “love song” is written on the back as two words and as one word on the cover – there doesn’t seem to be much agreement within The Cure itself as to which is correct). Side B has two non-album songs. “2 Late” is fairly sunny – the pop side of The Cure, a bit tinkly and jangly with a rather lovely, soaring and simple melody. “Fear of Ghosts” is more darkly goth Cure: exotic, epic and lush.

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The Cure “Faith”

sfilzen — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 19:42:42 +0000

The Cure “Faith” released 40 years ago today, April 14th, 1981. Faith is The Cure’s third LP; it’s gloomy and gorgeous, hopelessly dark, and perfectly gothic post-punk. One publication rates it as the best goth album ever released. Faith went to #14 in the UK, propelled by its sole single released, just about a month before the album: “Primary” (#43 UK) and it is one of my favorite early Cure songs. Its chugging melody and rhythm provided by dual bass and pedals, no guitar, no keys and the line “The very first time I saw your face, I thought of a song and quickly changed the tune. The very first time I touched your skin, I thought of a story and rushed to reach the end too soon” is just the best. But most of the album is significantly more downbeat in most beautifully depressing way possible with spacious atmospheric soundscapes practically dripping off the vinyl: “The Holy Hour,” “The Funeral Party” and “All Cats Are Grey” (that track, and “The Drowning Man” quite literally goth inspired by the Gormenghast books by Mervyn Peake that take place in a decaying Gothic castle) are perfect examples. Our copy is a double-LP reissue import that includes the non-LP single “Charlotte Sometimes” released in October 1981 (#44 UK) as well as some demos and outtakes (i.e. “Going Home Time” and “Forever”).

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The Cure “Arabian Dream”

sfilzen — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 17:31:13 +0000

The Cure “Arabian Dream” 1985. Duck Production Records. Unofficial, limited edition fan club release. Rare outtakes and live recordings from the Concert era (1984). It starts with a new-to-me version of “Boys Don’t Cry (outtake)” that is startling – good, but really odd with a tinny/pop production (and unfortunately not available that I could find online). Then comes a couple of tracks from Faith (1981):“Drowning Man,” live recordings of “Other Voices,” that is gorgeously dark and menacing, and “Funeral Party.” Side 1 ends with the live “Descent,” the b-side to “Primary” (also on Faith). Side B has three tracks, “A Forest” (from Seventeen Seconds, 1980), “Killing an Arab” (The Cure’s first single, 1978) and a long live recording of “Faith.”

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Joy Division “Substance”

sfilzen — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 20:26:23 +0000

Joy Division “Substance” 1988 (2015 reissue). Factory Records. Today, February 13th, is Joy Division/New Order bassist Peter Hook’s 65th birthday (b. Peter Woodhead, 1956). Substance is a comp of Joy Division’s singles, b-sides and EP tracks from ‘77-’80; the double LP 2015 reissue includes a couple of extra tracks not on the original, including “Love Will Tear Us Apart (Pennine version)” and “These Days” both of which were the B-side to the original “Love Will Tear Us Apart” single (considered one of the best singles ever released in the UK, it hit #13 in the UK and went to #42 on the US dance chart). Besides that amazing song, other iconic Joy Division songs appear like “Warsaw” (so much more snotty punk than their subsequent songs) which is also on the EP An Ideal for Living, “Digital” from the EP A Factory Sample ( “Digital” was the last song ever performed by Joy Division in 1980 before Ian Curtis’ suicide), “Transmission” (their first released single in ‘79), a different version of “She’s Lost Control” than appears on Unknown Pleasures – this one much more goth/industrial, “Atmosphere” which was released as a single after Curtis’ death in ‘80 (#34 UK), “Komakino” (a rare single from ‘80 given away by some record stores in flexi disc format), and the brilliant original “Dead Souls” (covered by Nine Inch Nails in ‘94 for The Crow soundtrack).

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The Cure “Lullaby”

sfilzen — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 17:54:16 +0000

The Cure “Lullaby” 1989. 12″ single (US version). The first single from their album Disintegration feels right for today: a lullaby for that sense of finally being able to exhale and relax though the song itself is more often interpreted as waking from a nightmare (check out the video linked!). “Lullaby” went to #5 in the UK and to #74 in the US (though hit the US alternative chart at #23 and the dance chart at #31). This 12″ single has the “extended remix” version; the US B-side has two live tracks: “Homesick (live)” and “Untitled (live).” The UK 12″ B-sides are “Babble” and “Out of Mind” – the variation because “Fascination Street” (a US-only single, the first single released from Disintegration in the US) had these two songs as its B-side and they didn’t want to repeat the tracks. The Cure recorded the live performances at Wembley Arena during the summer of ‘89; the two songs also appear on the 1991 France-only live album Entreat. All three tracks on this 12″ are lush, gothy Cure (the best kind!): dark, kind of creepy, very beautiful.

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