Goth is a niche interest. No, it really is – and it used to just be nothing more than fleeting infatuation from high fashion every year, as the season turned chill and the catwalks cried out for inspiration. I called it the Dark Wash Cycle and have filed several tired dismissals previously. Until now, when a Beauty Editor at British Vogue has decided to turn in a whole book on the topic…
Continue readingSincere apologies for the clickbait title – but I couldn’t resist the urge to be a bit mischievous! It’s Gary Marx of all people, who has returned to the fold with Green Ginger Jive, a glam-inspired album – and his first release since 2008’s “Nineteen Ninety Five and Nowhere”. Many of us, of course, know him better as the lead guitarist for The Sisters of Mercy and one of the four musicians who created their landmark debut album, “First and Last and Always”.
Continue readingThe chance to discuss a new single by The Cure last cropped up sixteen years ago. There might never be another. Such is the atmosphere one inhabits when approaching ‘Alone’, released on 26 September to promote the album “Songs of a Lost World.”
Continue readingBetween 2007 and 2014 I lived in Leeds, having visited for years prior to chase gigs, friends, and notorious clubnights. The common denominator attraction was always that dark legacy of goth, which had its ascendancy in the 80s as the sound and scene developed for the very first time. I strive to celebrate this fact at every opportunity, even as we acknowledge the equally vital and contemporaneous contribution of the Batcave in London – because it’s nice to have a worldwide cultural phenomena that actually began in the North of England!
As predicted, the Labour Party has swept to power in the UK General Election and formed a new Government with the lion’s share of MPs elected. However, it was largely predicated on the outright collapse of the previous incumbents, the Conservative Party – and the Labour vote share would have been higher without the astonishing recovery of the Liberal Democrats, not to mention encroachment from the left by the Greens, and from the right by Reform UK. In spite of the UK’s stubborn adherence to the archaic First Past The Post (FPTP) voting system, any seats going to these parties is representative of the fragmented political landscape in this country, and the less than fervent appetite voters have for Sir Kier Starmer’s party and government.
Did the goth electors of the UK also have a more fractious political appetite, or were they less indicative of national trends? How did this election’s polling differ to previous returns? Let’s dig into it!
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The Blogging Goth 