He continued: “But no band wants to be trapped by the expectations of a scene. Goth was a retrospective term for something that was already happening. Now, it’s become a shorthand for something that’s darkly delicious and enticing in cultural terms, so we embrace it more now.” Robb said that he hopes his book will do for goth what Jon Savage’s book, England’s Dreaming, did for punk in getting people to take it more seriously. “It’s a very artistic movement with its roots in great literature and architecture, from Edgar Allen Poe to the cathedrals of Gothenburg and beyond,” he said.

John Robb on his massive new goth book: “It’s simple: no John Robb on his massive new goth book: “It’s simple: no

John Robb has announced a book tour to go with his definitive new book about Goth Music and culture ‘The Art Of Darkness – the History Of Goth’ which is available from here.ABOUT USLouder Than War is a music, culture and media publication headed by The Membranes & Goldblade frontman John Robb. Online since 2010 it is one of the fastest-growing and most respected music-related publications on the net. READ MORE: The Cure photographer Paul Cox: “Robert Smith is a normal bloke – but he has a presence” This is a lovely book about the darker side of Post-Punk that I would recommend to anyone, even though the promised ‘deep dive’ into Goth turns out to be an elaborate paddle, so let’s concentrate on the good bits first, and why you should buy it, as this is impressive.

Goth: Three fascinating books explore a musical subculture

I didn’t see myself as a Goth fan as a teenager – to the extent that I would deny that The Cure were Goth – mainly because how could a band I really liked be lumped in with the likes of Fields of the Nephilim or Balaam and the Angel? To give credit to my younger self, The Cure don’t really see themselves as Goth either and nor do 90% of the bands Robb writes about – even Siouxsie and the Banshees, for heaven’s sake. But seriously, one of the book’s strengths is its loose definition of Goth as a broad church.I've seen critics of the book criticize Robb's florid and hyperbolic prose. Personally, I've got no problem with that element. Goth is all about unapologetic emotionalism. Going "over the top" is literally what the word "Gothic" means. Yeah, Robb's gushing gets a little much sometimes. But if you're trying to capture the sound of, for example, Killing Joke in words, only hyperbole will do. Dry text could not do the subject justice. One of the most noticeable things that happen when reading the book is the appreciation of the differences between bands who fall under the Goth umbrella, to such an extent that we can imagine the debate about who is or isn’t Goth rumbling on for some time yet, as some of the bands mentioned below prove. There are countless other bands covered here who took some of Goth’s dark leanings and minor chord sequences, with differing degrees of success and Goth’s continuing influence is discussed. This is not helped by pretty much all of the leading lights of the Goth scene denying they were ever Goth at all. One reason for this is that the term had a negative connotation from the beginning, with some bands not wanting to be put in the same category as others they felt little connection with. The term was later dumbed down even further with the likes of Fields of the Nephilim being derided as ‘Goff’. I realize I'm prejudiced here, but the entire World of Darkness - that "Gothic-Punk" setting that unleashed more baby bats than the entire catalog of the (Southern) (Death) Cult - is summed up by a single mention of Vampire: The Masquerade... a mention it shares with Skyrim and "Bloodlines." The fact that the latter is A SPIN-OFF OF VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE referred to as if it's a game of its own shows just how little John Robb knows or cares about anything except that brief period when he and his friends were cool.

The Art Of Darkness - The History Of Goth - John Robb The Art Of Darkness - The History Of Goth - John Robb

youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjvvK-Rj0WI&w=560&h=315]Siouxsie And The Banshees – Spellbound (Official Music Video) – YouTube It’s a thought-provoking question that the author leaves open-ended. But like Schrödinger’s experimental cat, it is clear that Goth is currently both dead and very much alive. Tolhurst’s engaging historical memoir is the third of three books this year to examine Goth music and culture, following on from John Robb’s Art of Darkness: The History of Goth and Cathi Unsworth’s Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth (published in May). Gloriously knowledgeable and inclusive, rich with words like crystalline, lysergic, spectral, and stuffed with stories about the bands who changed your life as a teenager." Irish Independent Marr also recalled the time he managed a goth clothes shop in Manchester, helping Robb to chart the rise of goths visual identity. Robb said it was similar to old interviews he carried out with The Cure’s Robert Smith, who also didn’t identify with the term.

Literature and art also feature heavily in these early chapters. As John Robb himself explained “ What I’ve realised is that every generation is dealing with its blues and dealing with it in the contemporary technology of the time. So, in the 19th century, you’d have a quill and write a poem or something, but in the post-punk period, because music was central to our culture, music was where people embraced melancholy and found the beauty of melancholy.” Other parts of the book focus on highlighting the female artists who were central to the scene, and the importance of grassroots venues to the development of sub-cultures like goth. “Places like The Batcave in London and The Phono in Leeds were massive in bringing the goth movement together,” Robb said. Ok, I love this book; it covers a period of music I lived through and still listen to this very day. The style is very detailed and lyrical, covering the bands and the times. If you have any interest in the history of this music, this is the book to get.