Teen Gothic

Hi all. I’m 18 with a 9 y/o sister, soon to be 10, and she’s very interested in what music I listen to and goth fashion. I’ve shown her videos of “40 Years of Goth Style” and things like that because she wanted to know about “different kinds of goth outfits”, and she said she liked a lot of the songs that were playing, so I showed her some of my favorite music too.

Our mom isn’t really the profanity police in music, it’s more about the context of the profanity than the word itself. For example, she let my 9 and 5 y/o sister listen to a few Melanie Martinez songs that had some swear words because she appreciated the message of the songs. Her whole philosophy is that music is how you express yourself and is an art form, so a couple bad words doesn’t necessarily overshadow that, given the subject matter of the song isn’t too age-inappropriate. They already know not to repeat those words anyway lol

A few songs I’ve already showed my sister that she liked include:

-Keep Your Eyes Peeled- ULTRA SUNN -Cities in Dust- Siouxsie and the Banshees -Various Molchat Doma songs -The Perfect Girl- both the Mareux cover and the original by the Cure -Love Will Tear Us Apart- Joy Division -Bela Lugosi’s Dead- Bauhaus -Gallowdance- Lebanon Hanover -Personal Jesus, Never Let Me Down Again- Depeche Mode -True Faith, Blue Monday- New Order -Sacrifice- London After Midnight -Goo Goo Muck- The Cramps

Some of the songs fit the parameters of goth more than others but I was trying to show her a range of music that captures different elements of goth while still being appropriate for her haha

Any more recommendations for her? She always looks forward to hearing new songs!

I came across this tiktok of a girl talking about how she used to go to a goth night in Fresno 10 years ago and that she went again this year and there were so many young people.

I'm 21 and I've only been in the scene since COVID restrictions ended, so I can't compare. What I did notice is that most people are in their 40s and then there is a handful of young people, in their teens to early 20s that got into goth in the past few years, but it is still a very small group and I don't think it's enough to make any difference. One of the djs told my friends and I that they hadn't seen anyone under 30 at goth clubs for years until recently.

People who have been in the scene for longer, did you notice an increasing number of young people at events as well? Do you think goth has the potential to be a youth subculture again?