Welcome to Gothtober 2024

It is that time of year again to dedicate the month to music that falls under the banner of “Goth”. Granted we cover a wider range of dark wave, post-punk, deathrock, and darker shades of metal than other sites, and do it more frequently than everyone aside from Post-punk.com, who like their name suggests just covers post-punk. Since we did this last year the predictably short attention span of the masses has simmered down on goth’s appeal in the mainstream. A trip to any Spirit Halloween shows the push the new Beetlejuice is getting, and the original was a goth staple, pushing goth back into the public eye, 

 We are however still going to clear the air regarding what is goth and what is not, since there still seems to be a little confusion about that in the mainstream press. Gatekeeping has become a dirty word in the minds of those who are so entitled they believe anything can be anything they want it to with the petulant attitudes of Veruca Salt when she demands the everlasting gobstopper. As music journalists, we are actually professional Gatekeepers, when it comes to curating music, and I bought my first “goth” cassette in 1987, when I purchased Jesus and the Mary Chain’s “Darklands” album, so with 36 years of history with this kind of music, you can take what I say here to the mother fucking bank. Many of the newer dark wave and post-punk bands have begun to fall into a uniform sound like they are checking off boxes, so we will keep our ears open for that. 

I am going bring a wide variety of different sub-genres to the table and put their dedication to creating sonic darkness to the forefront when I select bands to cover.  A few came up earlier in the year that I was not content with, so that means it is time to make my own. The month culminates to start the top ten lists for this year, so the top 10 post-punk, goth, and industrial lists for this year should drop by Halloween, so with that join us as we explore the tunes that go bump in the night.

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