Goth is having another big moment — and it's not just because Jenny Ortega renewed mainstream interest in the culture on "Wednesday" or because the fictional British ghost-hunting show "Lockwood & Co" has been using classic ‘80s goth in its soundtrack. Nor is goth subculture getting a renewed spotlight because various celebs are cribbing the aesthetic.
Rather, goth music is thriving on all fronts. The genre's innovators are hitting stages again this year, including Siouxsie Sioux, the Sisters of Mercy, the Cure, Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy with his David Bowie tribute and post-Bauhaus offshoot Love and Rockets. The second annual Cruel World Festival hits L.A. May 20, offering a smorgasbord of goth, new wave, ‘80s alt-rock, and post-punk artists. The Cure founder Lol Tolhurst has a new tome, Goth: A History, coming out in the fall, and John Robb’s The Art Of Darkness: The History Of Goth just hit shelves.
This may be the biggest indie music boom of the genre since the ‘90s, when an underground scene blossomed and sparked further splintering into subgenres. Since the genre’s development in the late 1970s, offshoots like darkwave, cold wave, electro-goth, ethereal wave, and industrial and metal crossovers have flourished and evolved in different ways. Many contemporary artists are reviving the ghosts of earlier eras, yet do so by combining different elements that would not have occurred in goth's '70s and '80s heyday.
In honor of the Cruel World Festival, which will see some of the bands on this list perform, and World Goth Day on May 22, here are 10 goth and darkwave bands worth watching. Representing aesthetics from postpunk to shoegaze, all of these groups are continually proving that goth is not a monolith, but a genre that continues to grow in exciting new ways.
Creux Lies
This self-proclaimed "party goth" quartet from Sacramento, California know how to get their groove on and write hook-laden tunes. Frontman Ean Elliot Clevenger exudes energy onstage, thriving on audience interaction and sometimes jumping into the crowd.
Like many modern goth and darkwave acts (including everyone on this list) they use drum programming rather than live playing, but they are very creative in their rhythmic choices. "Blue" conjures magical vibes that hearken back to the Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen, but still sound current. A year ago, the group released a remix EP of songs from their second album Goodbye Divine.
Twin Tribes
For nearly six years, guitarist/vocalist Luis Navarro and bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Joel Niño have been crafting their brooding brand of ethereal darkwave in Brownsville, Texas. While their debut album, Shadows, focused on tales of the macabre and occult, their sophomore effort, Ceremony, slanted more personal in its themes.
Their creepy, hypnotic video for "Fantasmas" has a surreal quality to it that totally fits the song’s unsettling vibe. These "shadow soldiers," as one fan deemed them, provide plenty of dramatic posturing onstage. Twin Twibes will tour the U.S. this fall and perform at Cruel World, making them a highly visible act on the rise.
She Past Away
You don’t need to understand Turkish to appreciate the music of She Past Away, who revel in the moody and melancholy. The post-punk/darkwave duo have been at it since 2006, releasing their first album Belirdi Gece six years later. The original lineup of vocalist/guitarist Volkan Caner and bassist İdris Akbulut lasted until 2015, when the latter departed to be replaced by keyboardist/drum programmer Doruk Öztürkcan.
Their three album catalog varies from dancey to dreamy, drawing comparisons to the Cure, Joy Division, and other classic goth and post-punk bands. (Made up, Caner bears a passing resemblance to Robert Smith.) The Turkish twosome will play eight U.S. shows in October in the midst of a 2023 European tour.
Drab Majesty
Fans of both ‘80s goth and ‘90s ethereal darkwave should appreciate the dreamy and dissonant soundscapes of these mysterious, silver-faced, gender neutral "twins" from L.A. Initially a one-person project founded by vocalist/keyboardist/drum programmer Andrew Clinco in 2011, keyboardist/vocalist Mona D (a.k.a. Alex Nicolaou) came aboard in 2016.
Both classic goth influences and the dream pop elegance of a band like Cocteau Twins appear in Drab Majesty’s mix. Clinco has cited highly personal singer/songwriter Mark Kozelek and his groups Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon as influences. Drab Majesty performed at last year’s Cruel World festival, and highlighted the standout track "Cold Souls" — off The Demonstration, an album inspired by the doomsday cult Heaven’s Gate.
A Cloud of Ravens
Newer to the scene, this dynamic duo from Brooklyn have been tapped to open eight dates on the current Sisters Of Mercy tour of the U.S. Their supporting set makes sense: A Cloud of Ravens mine a sound found on the heavier side of the Sisters, but inject more rhythm into their songs.
Vocalist/guitarist Matthew M. McIntosh and bassist/vocalist Beth Narducci vary their material between slower, pulsating songs and faster, guitar-driven rockers. The band’s third album, Lost Hymns, arrived in March and features the anthemic "Requiem For The Sun."
Kælan Mikla
This talented threesome from Iceland — lead vocalist Laufey Soffía, bassist Margrét Rósa Dóru-Harrýsdóttir, and keyboardist/flutist Sólveig Matthildur Kristjánsdóttir — have already made waves over the last few years with a genre-bending sound and intriguing repertoire. They recently toured America and Europe opening for former HIM frontman Ville Valo; in 2018, the Cure’s Robert Smith personally invited them to play his Meltdown Festival and his band's 40th anniversary show.
Kælan Mikla craft music with minimal guitar that resides at the intersection of darkwave, synth pop and the avant-garde — check out the haunting "Sólstöður" — and their recent touring has procured them more converts. Fun fact: They formed 10 years ago after performing their first song at a poetry slam, which they won.
Molchat Doma
Hailing from Belarus, the trio of vocalist Egor Shkutko, guitarist/keyboardist/drum programmer Roman Komogortsev and bassist/keyboardist Pavel Kozlov perform hypnotic lo-fi music with Russian lyrics. Molchat Doma will bring their post-punk, synth-pop, and ’80s Russian rock-influenced sound to this year's Cruel World festival. The guitar on their biggest song "Судно (Sudno)" even brings a surf rock vibe.
The group have released three albums over six years, signing to American label Sacred Bones Records (home to John Carpenter, Boy Harsher, and Zola Jesus) for their second album, Etazhi. Their catalog has already amassed an impressive 450 million streams on Spotify.
Kill Shelter
A one-man project led by Scottish musician and remixer Peter Burns, Kill Shelter moves from eerie electro to propulsive post-punk in alternately a synth-driven and guitar-propelled fashion.
Burns collaborates with a wide range of artists to produce an array of deliciously dark sounds. He has worked with William Faith (the Bellwether Syndicate), Ronny Moorings (Clan of Xymox), Alessandro Belluccio (Ash Code), Death Loves Veronica, and made an entire album with Norwegian guitarist Karl Morten Dahl (aka Antipole).
Lebanon Hanover
This international act was formed in 2010 by Swiss vocalist/guitarist Larissa Iceglass and British vocalist/bassist/keyboardist William Maybelline, who first connected through the web. No longer a couple but still musical soulmates, Iceglass remains in Germany while Maybelline resides in Greece.
Lebanon Hanover had an early indie "hit" with the song "Gallowdance"(from their third album, Tomb For Two), which surpassed 43 million plays on Spotify and 27 million views on YouTube. Priding themselves on wringing plenty of emotion from their minimalist approach, their last album Sci-Fi Sky ranges from the acoustic guitar-driven "Angel Face," to the eerily mystical "Come Kali Come."
Night Club
This dark electronic duo from SoCal have been active since 2012, with vocalist Emily Cavanaugh and keyboardist/producer Mark Brooks creating a special blend of electro and pop with goth overtones. You could call it goth-pop, but in a good way.
They’re a visually adept band with colorful, highly watched videos like "Candy Coated Suicide" and the animated "Die In The Disco." Yet their deep cuts aren't always as sunny: 2020's "Civil War" is a bluntly honest song about battling depression and suicidal thoughts.
Night Club have also cultivated a diverse audience, having shared stages with A Perfect Circle, Combichrist, Tricky, and currently, Puscifer. Catch them from wherever you are in a livestream on May 26
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