Violet Cries
4/5
It takes more than a slick of black nail polish and a stripe of eyeliner to summon the supernatural – although the throngs of Eurogoths patrolling Camden’s streets of a weekend might disagree. Goth, of course, is the music that defies both a fashion sense and the passing of time, but the recent success of Salem, Zola Jesus and, to a lesser degree, The XX suggests that it’s not just undead, it’s now more rudely healthy than ever.
Latest gloom-popsters out of the crypt are British trio EATW, who are more properly described as gothic. It’s a subtle but crucial distinction, since their eldritch starkness avoids the genre’s tropes, despite the fact that singer Rachel Davies does a decent Siouxsie Sioux impression and ‘Marching Song’ borrows from the Banshees’ ‘Spellbound’. Layered vocals, abrasive electronic noise and shimmering, frost-bitten melodies are the order of the night, while this LP’s bloody, visceral drive (eg on ‘Argyria’) will challenge anyone who imagines EATW to be wafty worshippers of Wiccan lite. It’s spellbinding stuff.
