Teen Gothic

I recently stumbled upon this band called Life On Venus which is labelled as Dream Pop and Shoegaze. While we know that some dream pop and shoegaze can sound similar to goth, this particular band sounds a little bit too goth for dream pop standards. It literally sounds more goth than a lot of bands labelled as darkwave and ethereal wave that are posted here. I would say it's on the same level as Drab Majesty and probably more goth than mid-era Cocteau Twins which is generally accepted here without questions. Here are a few songs, what do you think?

• Camera Obscura (this one has noisy shoegaze parts, but otherwise it sounds very goth-like)
• For the Kill (this one is on the same level as Drab Majesty and almost approaches Twin Tribes)
• What Lies Beneath (this also has a noisy shoegaze section but is otherwise very similar to Drab Majesty and Twin Tribes, even the vocals are a little bit similar to Drab Majesty and would not be out of place on a goth album)
• Summer (this one has a little bit more prominent bass which would not be out of place on a goth album)

If you don't think it's goth, then what makes it different from goth music in your opinion and where is the exact border between dream pop/post-punk and goth? So far the only things I can note are the noisy sections that are pretty different from what can be generally found in goth music, the vocals are a little bit different. Otherwise it easily passes as ethereal wave IMO.

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Okay so… I’ve been into alternative music for about 6 years (emo, metal, screamo), and always was interested in alternative fashion but shied away from it because of my parents/fear of not fitting in. Well I’m now moved out and beginning to develop my own style and have been trying to build up a more goth wardrobe as I love the style, music, and literature, and have fell in love with all those things in the last few months. Well, my boyfriend was super supportive and encouraged me to experiment with makeup, but now that I’ve began shopping for more gothic clothes, I can tell he doesn’t love it. He’s never liked trad goth makeup (I do). Today he kind of revealed that he’s not sure how much he actually likes goth style. I think he just thought I was going to be like a stereotype of a goth girl, like overly sexual and more of an E-girl type style (not that anything is wrong with that but it’s not my style). I don’t know how to feel. On one hand, I want him to find me attractive but at the same time, this style makes me feel confident and sexy and like I’m actually expressing myself. I really love him and he’s super supportive so I know he wouldn’t try to control how I dress but I really don’t want him to be less attracted to me now. Does anyone have any advice?

Of course, I don't dislike every song of theirs – I don't think there's any band really for whom that's the case, and I'll gladly dance to Kiss Me Until My Lips Fall Off anytime it's played. But for the vast majority of their songs, the lyrics come off as unimaginative and uninteresting. Saddest Smile in particular reads like a middle schooler's diary entry, and all the times they've mentioned walking through graveyards in their songs feels like it's trying to appeal only to a very stereotypical idea of what goth is.

It all (mildly) frustrates me because I never seem to see any other goths online who share my opinion on this.

And I mean really fucking good. Can yall name some other bands or albums like that one. (Perferably 80s)

(I've heard the Cure and Bauhaus too both great)

I'm especially into things like powerviolence/grind/d beat, but generally anything across the extreme punk rock/hardcore/metal realm. I'm looking for goth music that's also maybe inspired or adjacent to that, or that you just think would be enjoyable for people that also enjoy that stuff. Also my friend showed me 45 Grave and I really enjoyed them.

By the way there's this band from Albany NY called Wet Specimens that fits this category, it's the only one I can think of myself lol, try them out, they're sick.

I haven’t been in the subculture for the longest time although I grew up with parts of it due to my mom being involved. When I got into online communities I used to be really easily annoyed at people categorizing things as goth that aren’t the music. Someone told me trap rap was goth and since I was also probably just a stupid kid I had to think about that for months. I got into online arguments, and all that kind of stuff.

I haven’t thought about it for a while but recently I’ve realized I stopped caring about things being mislabeled, me being insulted based of my music taste and appearance, the stereotypes (the goth girl thing still annoys me thought, if you know what I mean). I just feel like I kinda got more chill after being involved for a while. Does anyone relate?

One thing I do think is that no matter how many rap songs get labeled as goth, we always have the scene and all of those things like the goth e girls are just online and not really actually affecting me/us. Although I do live in a specific part of Germany where there’s about 0,1 e girls lol, so maybe that changes things.

I laugh about a lot of things I used to get mad over and don’t start arguments anymore. Sometimes I correct people in a friendly way if it’s appropriate but that’s it.