ALBUM: Floodland (1987)
MVC Rating: 3.5/$$$$
I guess this is Goth. (Short for Gothic).
In the late 1970s in my high school in Georgia we had maybe five students who dressed all in black, used black eyeliner, black lipstick, dyed black hair, etc.
But I’m not really sure what Goth is. I mean is there a group of shared ideals beyond the fondness for black?
For me it conjures up images of medieval castles with gargoyles, Morticia on the Addams Family, the Rocky Horror Picture show, witches, dwarfs, the devil, and Igor. I’m letting my imagination run here.
They must only come out at night these days as I don’t see nearly as many folks rocking the Gothic gear as I did in the 1980s. Although, actress Pauley Perrette on the NCIS television program plays ‘Goth girl’ Abby, beloved by millions who watch that long running program. So maybe the real Goths on the street think the movement has gone too commercial and that’s why I don’t see them so much anymore? I don’t know.
This group Sisters of Mercy write darkly driven synthesizer and guitar rock songs about dreams of floods, and this corrosion.
From the song Lucretia My Reflection:
I hear the roar of the big machine/Two worlds and in between/Hot metal and methedrine/I hear empire down
The fact is, there are some catchy songs on here, even if it makes no sense lyrically. The whole album sounds like it was recorded in the basement of a dark, dank medieval castle.