Teen Gothic

There's a gulf between Sisters of Mercy and something like Twin Tribes or Forever Grey, but we all intuit them as 'goth' and i'm just wondering how this developed, historically.

EDIT: Misspoke here, did not mean to imply that synth or darkwave is a modern thing, but more that it's far more prevalent now as a dominant goth sound and was curios as to how we still consider this music to be goth (not that i disagree with that at all).

Hello, Im new to the sub culture and have been a long time comic reader. So my question is. Im aweare the is Goth litreture but im after comic recomendations with relevance to the sub culture. Thanks.

Ps apolpgys if I used thd wrong flare.

i tried to look into it, but there's not much information on how relevant buck-tick's music is to being goth, so i was a little confused.

i'm someone who isn't great at technicalities when it comes to music genres – i listen to sounds and vibes and have a good general idea, but i'd fail a test of specifics. i love buck-tick a lot, and if i was to put their songs into some of my goth playlists, they would fit right in, in terms of sound. i like buck-tick and i like goth music so essentially i'm confused on if they would be considered part of that goth music

also i looked it up and their music is listed as gothic rock, but i only hear of them when discussing visual kei, and i myself never thought they were goth before seeing this, and also seeing them posted in this sub. is it right to consider their music goth/goth-adjacent? sorry if it's a dumb question lol

For context, I am Gen Z

When I talk to my dad (who would be considered somewhere between a boomer and Gen X) about bands like The Sisters of Mercy, who would indisputably be called goth today (even if they don't identify themselves as such, haha), he argues that they aren't. I know goth in the 70s was originally called post-punk or new wave, which is what he calls it, but if that's the case, then what would someone his age think of as goth? I'm interested in how the meaning of the word has changed, and also would love to learn the history of the genre, including the things that once might have been called "goth", but now might not be labelled as such. I'm especially interested in perspectives from older goths, as, like I mentioned, I'm pretty young and only got into the scene around 6-8 months ago.

Thanks!! 🖤

An example I suppose would be The Birthday Massacre. I've seen some people consider them darkwave and others synthpop, some call it gothic rock and others industrial.

I've just kinda been left in this confusion of how these conclusions of subgenre are made. I understand what makes Rosetta Stone gothic rock or Joy Division post-punk, but not something like TBM where I can't get a decisive answer.

Like I said, I'm new to this. Very new, and I'm just trying to figure out the sub genres I like by bands I've listened to. I tagged this as a recommendation request cuz I'd like some recommendations on the subgenres so I can see more of what they're all like to get a better understanding.

EDIT: Just want to say I appreciate all the feedback, I think I'm starting to get a better understanding of the genre!

I recently started listening to a few bands with 1k-5k monthly and it made me wonder what counts as "underground" goth bands.

in another scene I'm part of, bands with 15k are considered kinda big (not really, but still not underground), but goth music has more listeners.

around where does a band start being considered "underground"? it's obviously not a specific point, but just an approximation.

I follow several music/subculture reddits and almost none of them have people asking if they truly fit the title or not, absolutely none have near as many people asking this as I constantly see here in r/goth.

As far as I've always been concerned, the only opinion that should matter is your own when it comes to self image and applying labels is futile, you're allowed to enjoy something without being boxed in by the eyes of others. That's kind of a major point of punk/goth/metal's foundation as far as I understand it.

I'm not trying to disparage, but I am genuinely curious why this seems so consistant here. Any speculation as to why this particular subreddit seems so desperate for the approval of others and some silly sense of permission to consider themselves a part of the culture?

This is a question that has plagued me for a while. I know that The Cure has said that they’re technically not goth, but I still find them on playlists all the time and I’ve talked to many goths that consider some of their earlier music to be goth. I feel like the Smiths has a very similar vibe to the Cure, a lot of their music is in the same genre of music so that makes sense lmao. Is there a history to the scene that differentiates the two? Anyways, thanks to anyone who can answer lol

As far as I’ve seen, bands like Faith and the Muse and Dead Can Dance are also considered among darkwave genre although they are mentioned much more in ethereal wave genre. But why these bands are also considered darkwave? What are some example songs? And do you think this darkwave lebel is true?