Gothtober - Soft Riot : "No."

 

Falling on the darker side of synth wave and future pop this Glasgow project makes music that is dancey, and more rooted in 80s nostalgia than most of the dark wave you are going to hear at Goth Night. The opening track works pretty well. A little upbeat for my personal tastes but If i am covering every angle of "goth" music this falls some where on the spectrum. There are some sounds that would not be out of place on a Skinny Puppy album, though this is not as dark as Skinny Puppy, and not gritty or industrial in that regard. I left this album on and let it play while trying to score my points on Temu, and before I knew it I was on song 6. The fact the songs were that uniform that they would run together in that manner does not bode well, but I will sit down and give it a closer listen, and see if I come to the same conclusions. 

The beat to "Crashing Into Tomorrow" does not vary greatly from what they were doing on the first song. The synths that dance around it are marginally different. The heavily effected and mostly spoken vocals , are the main offender when it comes to how these songs sound the same. Judging by his picture and the presentation here, he really wants to be Gary Numan. Numan is a better singer, and his songs offer a more dystopian point of view. Where this project finds it's own identity is some of the more experimental choices in sounds to garnish the other wise uniform dance beats. The vocals do shift more into singing on "It Never Takes Long to Say No".  The song itself takes on an oddly angular new wave slant.  

There is a stark dead pan tone to "Shouldering' the vocals are chanted more like old Depeche Mode. The song drones on the same pulse for the duration of the song. There are interesting sounds bouncing around here, but nothing in the way of melodies to hook you in. "When it Comes on Strong" finds the vocals taking on a more robotic cadence. Though they could take more notes from pop music regarding how to hook you in . "Wishing You Were Wrong" is more upbeat.  The vocal arrangements often have no rhyme or reason. The vocals feel almost obligatory here. They keep the more upbeat mood with the vocals sorting through the moodiness with "Just a Vapor". The vocals work better , but the synth riffs are a little awkward in places.

Aside from the automated hand clap sounds, this sounds almost just like the other songs, despite being marginally slower in the BPM department. In truth when the last song kicks in it almost feels like a remix of the previous song, though it has a little more bounce in it's step. I will give this album a 7. There are some cool sounds captured , but they are not enough to appease my attention span. You however might need to scratch this early 80s electronic itch more than I.