Teen Gothic

There's more goth bands out there than you can shake a stick at and a vast number of them were small outfits with few releases and next to no presence online. There's something special and enchanting about the obscure goth band. The band that never really went anywhere, the band that could have been great but never got there and faded away into a murky obscurity. Especially since in the current online landscape it's much harder than ever before to be obscure. Many, many of these small goth bands struggled uphill and it did not pay off for them. Most of them simply broke apart.

I find that sort of melancholy, that sense of unfulfilled dreams and sense of loss to be fitting! I often find myself pondering, yearning and thinking about the obscure bands that I've listened to that now exist only as cult, underground stuff to be appreciated by a small circle of people, or sometimes not even that. Sometimes they exist only as a memory, a band someone once saw back in the late 80's and early 90's, someone may have their original tape or vinyl stashed away somewhere.

I feel like we often focus on just a rotating cast of well known bands, so it'd be sweet for everyone to have a chance to throw out a really obscure band that is your personal obsession. They deserve it.

My personal pick is Shamefaces. Active for only a few months from 1992 to 1993 and with only two cassette releases, and only two songs available on YouTube, A Tale of Two Men and Shadowboy. Very little info on them online besides the band member names, most of whom have moved on from the goth scene it seems, but some are still active musicians.

Previously, they were a different obscure band, Dëx Cröix. They released one (REALLY good) EP and have a YouTube account that's over 15 years old and only has some really poor quality recordings of them in a Battle of the Bands tournament in 1988.

So, what's yours?

I get that we’re all sick of the «tik tok goth» posts, and this might be a bit related so sorry bout that. But what’s the deal with newer goths not knowing what deathrock is? Many of them at least know the basics of goth music, like sisters of mercy and the cure, but in most cases where I discuss music with babybats, very few even know the term deathrock. Is the genre outdated or (un)dead? There’s many goths in my city but the only deathrock band is the one I joined last year and none of the babybats in the scene know of that band either

Siouxie and the Banshees & Bauhaus are my 2 favourites right now. I just want to dance in an abandoned graveyard under a full moon, with no one for miles. Its such a special vibe that I've never ever had with any other music.

Please give me more artists/bands reccomendations! Or you could tell me your favorite songs from the either that I've listed!

It kinda weird for me all these labels i never understand what is the actual point of the labels. it feels realy weird saying "i'm goth" beacuse what i mean by goth does not what other people think goth is. i am recently find intrest in gothic sub culture but i could never imagine myself telling my mother hey mom im goth or something. it might be just me but it feels like a gender label. i mean it's only the kind of music you listen too so why there is a label to this ? i understand that this is a sub culture but it's just weird. no effence beacuse i feel pretty connected to the culture already but i keep it to myself.

It's funny beacuse my family know i find intrest in metal music as well so i don't know why it feels so diffrent if they will know i find intrest in the goth sub culture beacuse gothic music is nothing angry or heavy as metal. also my mother ask me if i'm freak because I asked for another shirt like the one I have with a skull i just like the fucking image what's worng with that

suspect it may be mick mercer?

Just wondering

I know it’s a single by Siouxsie, but she sings in german. The tilte is ‘mittageisen’ (on the back it says metal postcard. Does anyone know why this single is in german?