Label: Cleopatra Format: DVD
Yet again, it’s a Goth revival. Only a couple of weeks ago, one of the broadsheets began proclaiming black as the new black. The old black obviously not having been quite black enough. So here’s Cleopatra, with a bunch of nostalgia and some newer stuff too. Companion to their immense Goth Box, the DVD opens promisingly enough with Switchblade Symphony‘s “Clown”- some Goth chicks wailing over some chugga-chugga guitar with a whiff of electronica… I kinda liked it.
Truly, this compilation ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous… Alien Sex Fiend‘s classic “Ignore The Machine” rubs shoulders with Christian Death‘s “Romeo’s Distress”… actually, scratch that… “Romeo’s Distress” is one of the good Christian Death songs. Having so many bad ones to choose from, I’m kind of impressed at the selection. Elsewhere we get Red Lorry Yellow Lorry (incidentally the first band I ever saw live) doing “Spinning Round” and basically making a fairly good stab of sounding like the godlike Joy Division… good to have ambition, doncha know. Lords of the New Church get points just for looking as if they’re as fucked as any self-respecting band should be.
The main problem I have with this as a DVD is that most of the videos themselves aren’t that great… some of the music (ASF in particular) is wonderful, but if you’re gonna release a companion DVD, then videos that consist of grainy black-and-white live footage- good though they are in themselves- tend to run together when viewed in sequence for, like, an hour or something. Nosferatu‘s promo for “The Haunting” is okay- largely because it splices b/w live footage with bits from Murnau’s classic movie, but it works pretty well. Sex Fiend get extra points on this one for having a video that displays a sense of humour – Nik and Mrs Fiend are clearly loving this, and don’t care who knows it. A lot of the others come across as a little… how shall I say this… po-faced (and that’s Po as in the Teletubbies, rather than Edgar Allen.)
I dunno… all in all, if you like the bands, you’ll like the compilation. It’s a pretty good selection. I just think more could be done on the visual side when you’re trying to appeal to a subculture which idealises the aesthetic… Just a thought.
-Deuteronemu 90210 in his party dress-
