The gothic sound, like punk and rock before it, eventually succumbed to the whims of people who didn’t understand what made it so great in the first place. Just as punk quickly became incoherent and overly velocitous, and rock music a contest of bombast and bravado, so, within only a few years, goth fell under the control of those who just saw it as another branch of heavy rock, and one whose wardrobe had shifted from effortlessly cool to the overtly theatrical.
This is why we need bands like Vision Video, bands that can redress the balance, reminding us of what was so great about that original sound. Their third album, Modern Horror, also reminds us that the term goth was always a problematic label; while it might capture the darker sentiments at work in a band like Vision Video, it ignores the fact that they also mix post-punk abrasion, alt-rock drive, alternative dance grooves, and even dark pop accessibilities.
The titular opener has echoes of Joy Division running through its seductive sonics and depth-charge bass lines. “Balaclava Kiss” reminds us that dance music is less a genre and more an attitude, approach and energy. I challenge any discerning music fan not to be throwing a few crazy shapes, perhaps even doing the iconic rope dance, by the time it has finished.
“Haunt Your Dreams” blends those searing Sisters’ guitars with Simon Gallop style bass bombasts, and the recent single “Let Go of Time” shows us just how close that early Blitz Kid vision of a new pop music, a sound that would be quickly monetized into the New Romantic phenomena, was to the whole formative gothic scene.
And embedded within all of that, rather than the images of gothic romance novels and mythologies, old and new, the lyrics are poignant and timely, full of social commentary and thoughtful views of the world we find ourselves in today.
For Modern Horror is an album for today’s audience, but those with long memories and extensive record collections will celebrate that the history of one of the most misunderstood musical scenes is being fixed.
The future is looking wonderfully dark, so ironically, you will need to grab your aviator shades.
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Dead Gods single
