- Tom Hibbert
Being a goth seems to be quite the commitment. There's applying all that black nail polish and eye liner and lipstick. There's having to dress in a particular way that doesn't look too coordinated but which still fits. There's attempting to look seductive but not overtly sexy. There's putting effort in but not so much that it looks like dressing up. There's having to be a goth without sliding too closely towards parallel genres like punk and metal and country. Like golf and vegetarianism, goth acts as a lifestyle that other the followers of other subcultures could never come close to.
But those are really just the fans. Goth rock stars have decidedly more leeway and not just in terms of image. They may have a pop phase (The Cure), they may name themselves after a Leonard Cohen song (Sisters of Mercy), they may play little more than folk music (All About Eve), they may worship country and western (murder) balladeers (Nick Cave) and they may just be good old rock 'n' rollers at heart (The Mission). (The occult spiritualism of Bauhaus may well mark them out as the only true goths and they didn't even look the part) Which brings us to Red Lorry Yellow Lorry: indie band name, post-punk sound, garage rock influence but they're goth because...the singer has a deep voice?
Opening with a guitar riff not unlike Blue Öyster Cult's classic "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Monkeys on Juice" really gets going once some very big and very goth drums - possibly from a drum machine although they don't sound artificial - kick in along with the voice of Chris Reed. As I just mentioned, he's got that full-throated, perfectly enunciated yet muffled pitch that suits goth rock. (Then again, so did Ian Curtis and no one ever called Joy Division goths) In reality, it's mostly a Teutonic record because of the way the production so clearly captures the music but get the vocals on lo-fi. Otherwise, it's competent hard rock.
Yeah, competent. I can't bring myself to get quite as enthusiastic as Tom Hibbert, since, whatever the type of music the Lorries play, this is not my thing. A good record for what it is, one I haven't minded having on over the last week but one I won't be rushing back to anytime soon. That said, as Hibs also mentions, it's by far the best record on offer as this may well be the poorest batch of singles in a single issue of ver Hits to date. The nineties will be coming eventually so it's not likely a distinction that's going to remain but it's worth pointing out since we're starting to see a gradual decline. The vigour of new pop and new wave is now at an end and there's a scarcity acts and genres to take over. So, why not look to some supposed goth on an indie label for that elusive next thing? It didn't take but it was worth a try.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
The Residents: "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"
The eyeballed-ones always had a thing for ripping up classic pop and their proposed, though ultimately doomed, American Composers Series seemed just the sort of thing that they could have gotten a lot out of. This was a decade on from the astonishingly horrific The Third Reich 'n Roll and their uncanny ability to shock, amuse and cause physical illness wasn't quite as it once was. A companion single to the George Jones/James Brown tribute album George & James, it is remarkably low key and about as commercial as they'd ever get. ("The Residents have made a listenable record. Was this the intention?" wonders Hibs) That trademark whiny, Louisiana drawl on vocals perhaps gives away that it's meant to subvert the Godfather of Soul's macho posturing (even though I never saw The Residents collapse on stage like a certain sissy vocalist) but there's little by way of weirdness. Stick with Eskimo for some genuinely brilliant Residential loopiness.
Being a goth seems to be quite the commitment. There's applying all that black nail polish and eye liner and lipstick. There's having to dress in a particular way that doesn't look too coordinated but which still fits. There's attempting to look seductive but not overtly sexy. There's putting effort in but not so much that it looks like dressing up. There's having to be a goth without sliding too closely towards parallel genres like punk and metal and country. Like golf and vegetarianism, goth acts as a lifestyle that other the followers of other subcultures could never come close to.
But those are really just the fans. Goth rock stars have decidedly more leeway and not just in terms of image. They may have a pop phase (The Cure), they may name themselves after a Leonard Cohen song (Sisters of Mercy), they may play little more than folk music (All About Eve), they may worship country and western (murder) balladeers (Nick Cave) and they may just be good old rock 'n' rollers at heart (The Mission). (The occult spiritualism of Bauhaus may well mark them out as the only true goths and they didn't even look the part) Which brings us to Red Lorry Yellow Lorry: indie band name, post-punk sound, garage rock influence but they're goth because...the singer has a deep voice?
Opening with a guitar riff not unlike Blue Öyster Cult's classic "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Monkeys on Juice" really gets going once some very big and very goth drums - possibly from a drum machine although they don't sound artificial - kick in along with the voice of Chris Reed. As I just mentioned, he's got that full-throated, perfectly enunciated yet muffled pitch that suits goth rock. (Then again, so did Ian Curtis and no one ever called Joy Division goths) In reality, it's mostly a Teutonic record because of the way the production so clearly captures the music but get the vocals on lo-fi. Otherwise, it's competent hard rock.
Yeah, competent. I can't bring myself to get quite as enthusiastic as Tom Hibbert, since, whatever the type of music the Lorries play, this is not my thing. A good record for what it is, one I haven't minded having on over the last week but one I won't be rushing back to anytime soon. That said, as Hibs also mentions, it's by far the best record on offer as this may well be the poorest batch of singles in a single issue of ver Hits to date. The nineties will be coming eventually so it's not likely a distinction that's going to remain but it's worth pointing out since we're starting to see a gradual decline. The vigour of new pop and new wave is now at an end and there's a scarcity acts and genres to take over. So, why not look to some supposed goth on an indie label for that elusive next thing? It didn't take but it was worth a try.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
The Residents: "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"
The eyeballed-ones always had a thing for ripping up classic pop and their proposed, though ultimately doomed, American Composers Series seemed just the sort of thing that they could have gotten a lot out of. This was a decade on from the astonishingly horrific The Third Reich 'n Roll and their uncanny ability to shock, amuse and cause physical illness wasn't quite as it once was. A companion single to the George Jones/James Brown tribute album George & James, it is remarkably low key and about as commercial as they'd ever get. ("The Residents have made a listenable record. Was this the intention?" wonders Hibs) That trademark whiny, Louisiana drawl on vocals perhaps gives away that it's meant to subvert the Godfather of Soul's macho posturing (even though I never saw The Residents collapse on stage like a certain sissy vocalist) but there's little by way of weirdness. Stick with Eskimo for some genuinely brilliant Residential loopiness.
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