❥ 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐂𝐎𝐌

I THINK I COULD BE WHAT YOU NEED.

[genreblind]

i'm damone. i'm mixed blak, nb, bi, and in my twenties

this is a music sideblog. sorry for the autism.

i talk about feelings a lot, just as a warning. music is a very personal and emotional thing for me and i don't hide that

i occasionally do reviews + playlists but mainly i just unapologetically run my fucking mouth tbh

i was thee #1 jakey listener worldwide in 2023 💪 (#3 now ú_ù)

please ask me for or send me recommendations 🩵

★ uno ★ dos ★ tres

this blog is 18+ btw.

[ellewantsrevenge]

aadam jacobs's archive

[genreblind]

i couldnt even TRY to maintain an oni inc essentials playlist because this motherfucker drops a new single every other fucking day. i asked god for an artist that isnt dead and still releases music and the monkeys paw curled.

[genreblind]

stats.fm's 2025 playback dropped and i gotta be honest having a song named "hentai bounce" there is humbling in a way i wasnt prepared for. like where do i even go from here.

[genreblind]

i maintain that its catchy. its fun. obnoxious, vulgar, edgy, catchy, and fun. what more can you ask for

[genreblind]

im sorry. are you telling me theres a hentai bounce sequel. why for.

[genreblind]

i mean its okay. no hentai bounce og but its fine i guess. whatever.

[genreblind]

stats.fm's 2025 playback dropped and i gotta be honest having a song named "hentai bounce" there is humbling in a way i wasnt prepared for. like where do i even go from here.

[genreblind]

i maintain that its catchy. its fun. obnoxious, vulgar, edgy, catchy, and fun. what more can you ask for

[genreblind]

im sorry. are you telling me theres a hentai bounce sequel. why for.

[genreblind]

stats.fm's 2025 playback dropped and i gotta be honest having a song named "hentai bounce" there is humbling in a way i wasnt prepared for. like where do i even go from here.

[genreblind]

i maintain that its catchy. its fun. obnoxious, vulgar, edgy, catchy, and fun. what more can you ask for

[genreblind]

stats.fm's 2025 playback dropped and i gotta be honest having a song named "hentai bounce" there is humbling in a way i wasnt prepared for. like where do i even go from here.

[misandrynistic]

btw if youre ever looking for video game music this site is a fucking life saver. gold mine.

[virgomoon]

VIRGOMOON'S BLACK MUSIC COLLECTION: a series of playlists where i collect black artists from various genres to showcase the talent of my community; particularly that outside of typical genres you see us in.

black people created rock btw: my magnum opus. as the title suggests, here is rock music made by black people or bands that feature at least one black musician, particularly the lead singer and/or songwriter. classic rock, pop punk, hardcore, punk rock, goth, and more. this includes rap rock remixes and rock inspired rap tracks. songs range anywhere from the 60s to now.

a southern gothic tale: this playlist is just like the above, except featuring black artists who make primarily country music. there's bluegrass, folk, blues, and the like here. including covers and crossover songs. again, older music as well as newer tracks are featured here.

black alternative: black music that isn't just generic "pop", "rap", or "rnb". nothing wrong with those genres, of course, but obviously, we make all kinds of music and deserve to be recognized there too. here you'll find hyper-pop, bedroom pop, indie pop, dark pop; all those trendy sub - genres.

juicy fruit, certified bubble yum: bonus points if you know the song the title is from. anyway, here's bubblegum pop by black artists because for some reason black pop girls get labeled as "urban" and "rnb" when they're not? not necessarily? music from the 80s and on.

black girl punk!: punk and punk adjacent music from alternative black women in music. including fem presenting artists.

we've always been here: a new addition to the collection! this is every song from the various playlists collected into one major playlist. the only missing one is juicy fruit, as i wanted to showcase more unknown / underground artists and/or the songs from known artists that are a little more obscure because they're showcasing alternative genres than what we're used to from them. for example, don't hurt yourself from beyonce. a blues rock song from a known pop artist. still adding music to it as of april 2025.

[genreblind]

btw fwiw i think sofia isella is gonna be fucking huge and id put money on it rn if i had any to spare. that girl is gonna be fucking massive. shes a powerhouse in the making.

[genreblind]

JAKEY BREAKY!

days until ROMCOM's 1 year anniversary: 1

♡ NOW PLAYING : TRACK 321 (‘23)

now playing — a (not so carefully, but still lovingly) curated song of the day series curated by dj nfwmbi.

♡ TOMMY HANKS 2 — Jakey

Visit Original Link

source: Jakey - TOMMY HANKS [Normal Pitch Edit] Version 2 - X-LO

[cuntess-carmilla]

Haunted Beauty Barbie collection: moodboards + playlists masterpost

Because I love and crave these dolls so much that I couldn't help myself and I ended up making moodboards and playlists for each of them: Ghost Barbie, Vampire Barbie, Mistress of the Manor Barbie, and Zombie Bride Barbie.

🪦 Ghost 🪦

All Ethereal Wave.

Lycia, Mors Syphilitica, The Shroud, Faith and the Muse, Isiphilon, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Miranda Sex Garden, Hamsas XIII, Black Mare.

⚰️ Vampire ⚰️

All Darkwave and Gothic Rock.

Dark Hertz Transmission, Sopor Aeternus, Nosferatu, Inkubus Sukkubus, NNHMN, La Procesión de lo Infinito, Twin Tribes, Two Witches, Paralysed Age, The Coventry.

🕯️ Mistress of the Manor 🕯️

A good balance between Gothic Rock and Darkwave.

Nosferatu, Sweet Spectra, Corpus Delicti, Sopor Aeternus, Witching Hour, Twin Tribes, Wisborg, La Scaltra, Switchblade Symphony, Faith and the Muse.

🕸️ Zombie Bride 🕸️

A mixture of mostly Post-Punk, Deathrock, with some Gothic Rock and Darkwave.

Lebanon Hanover, Cinema Strange, Animal Rojo, Two Witches, Vacíos Cuerpos, The Spiritual Bat, Sopor Aeternus, Requiem in White, London After Midnight, Paralysed Age.

[cuntess-carmilla]

Goth aesthetic + music playlist series masterpost

For those interested in getting into goth music, I've built 9 playlists total with 15 songs each all surrounding common goth aesthetics so there's a bit of everything that tends to attract people to our subculture. Each playlist title links to its YouTube playlist.

The individual posts with the tracklists detailed are in this tag.

Trad goth 🦇 aesthetic and music

What started it all, straight out of the 1980s. Punk Rock gone spooky, androgynous, melancholic, experimental and often campy.

Lots of Post-Punk with a dash of Gothic Rock.

Featuring: Xmal Deutschland, Ausgang, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, Blood & Roses, The Cure, Specimen, Play Dead, The Birthday Party, Skeletal Family, Sex Gang Children, Cocteau Twins, The Wake (UK), Virgin Prunes, Look Back in Anger.

Romantic goth 🌹 aesthetic and music

The exquisite agony of melancholy, the theater of grief, the elegance of a frail dying maiden and the intensity and beauty of all emotions.

Mostly Ethereal Wave, Darkwave and Gothic Rock.

Featuring: London After Midnight, Lacrimosa, Sopor Aeternus, Faith and the Muse, The Shroud, Mors Syphilitica, Lycia, Corpus Delicti, Requiem in White, Diva Destruction, Two Witches, Mephisto Walz, Die Laughing, The 69 Eyes, Witching Hour (UK).

Fetish goth 🖤 aesthetic and music

The sensuality of leather and latex, the bell-like sounds of chains, and the sweet cruelty of your master reflected in sensual synths or thrilling guitars.

Mainly Darkwave with some Gothic Rock and Post-Punk.

Featuring: Umbra et Imago, The Mission, The Eden House, Athamay, Bauhaus, Boy Harsher, Quasimodo, London After Midnight, Wisborg, Two Witches, Dark, Fields of the Nephilim, Pink Turns Blue, Her Despair, Merry's Funeral.

Vampire goth 🍷 aesthetic and music

Some launch themselves into their bloodlust with glee, some bemoan their damnation, but what truly matters is that they're hot either way.

Mainly Gothic Rock with some Darkwave and Post-Punk thrown in.

Featuring: Inkubus Sukkubus, Bauhaus, Blutengel, Two Witches, Haunt Me, The Damned, Sopor Aeternus, Immortalis Amor, Lestat, Gothic Sex, La Procesión de lo Infinito, Paralysed Age, Nosferatu, Selofan, Angels of Liberty.

Cyber goth ☢️ aesthetic and music

Cybernetic horror, machinery and humanity blurring boundaries, and a dark undeground floor to dance the futuristic dystopia away.

This one is nothing but synth-heavy Darkwave.

Featuring: Diary of Dreams, Light Asylum, Bedless Bones, Cold Cave, The Frozen Autumn, Collide, Two Witches, Hante., Android Lust, Diva Destruction, La Scaltra, Ego Likeness, FrightDoll, Neon Zoo, Boy Harsher.

Deathrock 💀 aesthetic and music

Goth's American sibling! If Post-Punk is gloomy and eerie, Deathrock is brooding and spooky. If Gothic Rock is vampires and witches, Deathrock is zombies and werewolves.

This playlist is all Deathrock.

Featuring: Chants of Maldoror, Bloody Dead and Sexy, Eat Your Make-Up, Morticia, Bat Nouveau, Phaidia, Cinema Strange, The Naked and the Dead, Requiem in White, Cemetery, 45 Grave, The Cemetary Girlz, Katzenjammer Kabarett, Spiritual Bats, †13th Moon†.

Kinder goth 🍬 aesthetic and music

What's creepier than the sound of a haunted music box and the echo of laugh of a child? Cuteness and goth are not mutually exclusive, this style proves it.

Ethereal Wave, Darkwave and Post-Punk more or less on equal meassure.

Featuring: The Cure, Switchblade Symphony, Faith and the Muse, Bella Lune, binzatina, The Birthday Party, Lycia, Cinema Strange, Virgine Dramatica, Sopor Aeternus, Collide, Mors Syphilitica, Katzenjammer Kabarett, Drab Majesty, SRSQ.

Witchy goth 🎃 aesthetic and music

The figure of the witch has always been of interest to goths; be it due to us having a large neo-pagan population, our fascination with the occult, or simply sympathy for the witch.

A balanced combination of Gothic Rock, Ethereal Wave and Darkwave.

Featuring: Inkubus Sukkubus, Faith and the Muse, Boy Harsher, Nosferatu, Pretentious, Moi?, Switchblade Symphony, Sopor Aeternus, La Scaltra, Two Witches, Die Laughing, Lycia, Rosetta Stone, Chants of Maldoror, Witching Hour UK, The Mission.

Macabre goth ⚰️ aesthetic and music

Not all goths are obsssed with death... But these ones are! Isn't that the reasonable end to dark romance? The eternity of death, the painlessness of death, the mystery of what's beyond it.

A well balanced mix of Ethereal Wave, Gothic Rock, Darkwave and Deathrock.

Featuring: Sopor Aeternus, Angels of Liberty, A Covenant of Thorns, This Burning Effigy, Paralysed Age, Ghosting, Dead Souls Rising, Soror Dolorosa, Chants of Maldoror, Faith and the Muse, Witching Hour UK, Cinema Strange, Shadow Project, Lestat, Twin Tribes.

[vampiricvenus]

I'm making my own goth subgenres poll because I'm both annoyed and annoying.

What's your favorite goth music subgenre?

Post-Punk (Bauhaus, The Cure, the Banshees, Twin Tribes, Sex Gang Children, etc)

Gothic Rock (Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, The Mission, etc)

Deathrock (Christian Death, Bloody Dead and Sexy, 45 Grave, Cinema Strange, etc)

Darkwave (Clan of Xymox, The Frozen Autumn, Switchblade Symphony, etc)

Ethereal Wave (Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Miranda Sex Garden, etc)

Coldwave (Asylum Party, Marquis de Sade, Twilight Ritual, Lebanon Hanover, etc)

I'm a lurker / See results

Voting ended onDec 18, 2023

I'm not arguing with losers who'll probably bring up germanic tribes or fucking architecture about why I didn't include some Metal genre or their favorite Pop Punk band.

[vampiricvenus]

Good news to those using this post as music recs! I have tags for goth music, including by genre; dark Post-Punk, Gothic Rock, Darkwave (Neoclassical Darkwave too), Ethereal Wave, Deathrock. I had those same tags in my longer running previous account; here for general goth music, dark Post-Punk, Gothic Rock, Darkwave (Neoclassical Darkwave again), Ethereal Wave, Deathrock.

I also have a goth 101 tag, goth playlists based on different gothy aesthetics, goth playlists based on the Haunted Beauty Barbie collection dolls, and a comprehensive Goth 101 post with some brief goth history, clearing of misconceptions, trivia and massive playlists for each of the 4 main subgenres.

As an aside, Christian Death's most (in)famous song is Romeo's Distress, which contains the uncensored n word supposedly for satire/anti-racist reasons (🙄). Kinda had to list them in the Deathrock option because talking about Deathrock without talking about them is like talking about Thrash Metal without talking about Metallica. Check them out at your own risk. To be frank, nearly every classic goth band has Done A Racism, unfortunately.

[vampiricvenus]

Goth 101

🦇 tl;dr version for those who prefer that format

Goth is a music-based subculture that started out in the UK in the late 70s/early 80s and spread internationally from there. It spawned from the UK Punk scene, keeping the DIY ethics but turning the music more melancholic, introspective and experimental.

The music genres that the subculture was built around are (dark) Post-Punk, Gothic Rock, Darkwave, Ethereal Wave and a few other smaller subgenres.

While the fashion and other non-musical aesthetics are very prominent and beloved by goths, they're non-essential to the subculture. What defines a goth is the music we listen to.

Our "big 4" bands are The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and the Banshees. However, 3 out of 4 of those bands are Post-Punk acts (Sisters of Mercy being the exception Gothic Rock band), and while very influential to the rest of the goth music scene, they by no means are the end-all, be-all of what goth music sounds like. The genre has evolved through its over 40 years of existence, creating diverse sounds. Anyone darkly inclined can find something to love, even if it takes a bit of research.

The Dark & Gothic playlist on Spotify is a pretty decent way to get started into goth music. In my old blog I had entire tags dedicated to goth music as a whole, and separately to Post-Punk, Gothic Rock, Darkwave and Ethereal Wave too. I had a few playlists based on popular goth aesthetics here.

The longer description of goth music will include playlists for each bigger goth subgenre, but please keep in mind they're made by me in a way that appeals to my personal tastes for each subgenre. I don't know every band that exists and my personal taste is biased towards the 90s.

Now, to a more detailed introduction to the goth subculture...

🦇 Dark alternative vs Goth

What a lot of people need clarified is that the goth subculture doesn't have a monopoly on the dark alternative world, nor are we the home for everyone sad, spooky and weird who doesn't fit in and might listen to any sort of sad, spooky or weird alternative music.

There are SO many dark alternative music scenes that have nothing or very little to do with the goth subculture. We've influenced a lot of them fashion-wise, but just because they copied us we look alike doesn't mean we're interchangeable.

There's no scale that goes from Prep to Goth and measures how Valid™ your inner darkness is, in which if you're anything below goth then you're a poser and lame. It's perfectly fine and cool to be dark alternative without being a goth. Goth isn't a badge of legitimacy or honor, it's just one specific flavor of dark alternative among so many.

Goth is a very small and obscure subculture despite our superficial hypervisbility (our looks and infamy are hypervisible, what we're actually about is extremely buried underground), and most dark alternative people aren't goths.

🦇 What does it take to be a goth?

There's one rule, and one rule only: LISTEN TO THE MUSIC. You wouldn't call yourself a metalhead without being a fan of Metal music, would you? The same principle applies to goth.

There are many types of alternative subcultures; some examples are fashion-based subcultures, another are lifestyle-based subcultures. A third type of subculture that's very prominent (especially in the West) are music-based subcultures.

Goth is a music-based subculture, just like the metalhead, punk, emo, rivethead/Industrial, hip-hop, rave, K-Pop and grunge subcultures are.

This means that, while the music isn't THE ONLY aspect the subculture has, in order to be a goth you have to listen to goth music, and we have a specific set of music genres that our subculture was built around, so not just anything dark and melancholy will do, as we don't have a monopoly on that, but we do have something closer to a monopoly on a specific sound and musical legacy.

You don't have to listen to goth music EXCLUSIVELY to be a goth, that'd be insane. You don't even have to limit yourself to dark alternative music either. You just have to listen to goth music to a relevant degree and be passionate about it and you're in, the rest is up to you.

This means too that the way you dress has no impact on your validity as a goth, whether you don't have the gothic wardrobe of your dreams yet or you just don't want to dress goth at all. I'm TikTok mutuals with a girl who dresses exclusively in pink-white sweet lolita coords, but who's passionate about goth music. She's a goth, no questions about it. On the other hand, a lot of the influencers you'll see online who look like a lost Addams cousin aren't goths at all, and no house decor or outfit will make them gothier if they don't listen to the music.

🦇 What music counts as goth?

From the previous points I made you probably gathered that Industrial and Metal ⁠– both genres that outsiders usually associate with the goth subculture ⁠– aren't actually part of the goth genre. So, what is goth music?

Goth music developed initially in the UK in the late 70s/early 80s off of dark Post-Punk. Post-Punk itself developed from UK 70s Punk Rock, being also influenced by Glam Rock, experimental electronic music, and many other influences more specific to each band that took part in this musical development (Bauhaus were very influenced by Reggae!).

What characterizes the goth sound are elements such as; being bass-driven rather than guitar-driven (in almost every case), guitars playing more of a decorative or atmospheric role instead of being the main focus (which contrasts starkly against genres such as Metal), preference for voices with a lower vocal range (altos, this is your genre to shine in!), optional use of synthesizers, recurrent replacing of human drummers with drum machines, and common use of lots of reverb and delay effects everywhere for an extra sensation that you're listening to music recorded in a catacomb.

Dark Post-Punk was the starting point of the goth subculture, and from it, all other goth music subgenres developed. Depending on who you ask there's a billion goth micro-genres. In my opinion a lot of those subgenres are rather meaningless (a lot of them are just specific flavors of Post-Punk or Darkwave) but the main 4 subgenres of goth music are:

(Dark) Post-Punk

Gothic Rock

Darkwave

Ethereal Wave

POST-PUNK:

Post-Punk took the standard sound of Punk Rock and its DIY ethics and made the sound more melancholic, romantic, experimental, less angry, and more introspective. Dark Post-Punk in particular was influenced by gothic literature and old horror movies (including their soundtracks, the Banshees created their characteristic guitar sound after the violins in the Psycho soundtrack).

Besides the 3 Post-Punk bands I listed as part of the goth "big 4", there's bands such as Skeletal Family, Twin Tribes, Specimen, She Wants Revenge, Sex Gang Children, Xmal Deutschland, Lebanon Hanover, Cruex Lies, The Secret French Postcards and The Birthday Party.

GOTHIC ROCK:

When goth became slightly more established in sound, Gothic Rock is what happened. Less experimental than Post-Punk, a bit more Rock-based, more decidedly dark and miserable than Post-Punk necessarily is, and finally severed from goth's punk roots. Sisters of Mercy is THE most popular and influential Gothic Rock band; they popularized the use of extremely low baritone vocals and drum machines. Despite existing since the 80s, its popularity peak was in the 90s.

Goth as a whole has its "big 4", but the subgenre of Gothic Rock has its own "big 3", which are Sisters of Mercy, The Mission (UK), and Fields of the Nephilim. Other Gothic Rock bands are Rosetta Stone, Corpus Delicti, Inkubus Sukkubus, Mephisto Walz, Angels of Liberty, Two Witches, Nosferatu, Wisborg and Soror Dolorosa.

DARKWAVE:

Goth going electronic! There's basically two types of Darkwave; the one that's more a combination of Post-Punk + Synthpop (very popular in the past decade), and the one that's more a combination of Gothic Rock + electronic music in general (most popular in the 90s). EXTREMELY danceable, but then again goths can dance to literally anything. This genre has existed at the very least since the second half of the 80s and has never stopped being relevant in the goth scene, save maybe during the Deathrock revival phase.

Clan of Xymox might be the single most influential Darkwave band. There's also The Frozen Autumn, The Crüxshadows, Switchblade Symphony, Collide, Dark, Ghosting, London After Midnight, She Past Away, Drab Majesty and Boy Harsher.

ETHEREAL WAVE:

This genre is heavily linked to Dream Pop, Neoclassical Darkwave and Shoegaze. Like with Darkwave there's basically a few styles of Ethereal Wave, I can pinpoint three; the one that's like, regular Goth Rock/Post-Punk but with a lot of extra delay and reverb and other stylistic choices that make it sound, well, Ethereal, dream-like. There's the type that has lots of Folk influences (be it Medieval/Rennaisance-ish type of Folk or "ethnic" type of Folk), and there's one that's synth-based but, unlike Darkwave, sounds like what ketamine must feel like. This genre has existed since the mid 80s but its peak in popularity and relevancy in the scene was in the 90s.

Dead Can Dance is THE most influential Ethereal Wave band, but there's others such as Cocteau Twins (started as Post-Punk, ended up as Dream Pop and Ethereal Wave), Miranda Sex Garden, Faith and the Muse, Lycia, Claire Voyant, Hamsas XIII, Love is Colder than Death, SRSQ, Black Tape for a Blue Girl and Mors Syphilitica.

What about Deathrock, Gothic Metal and Industrial?

Deathrock is goth's American twin, basically. While in the early 80s in the UK morose ex-punks were playing Post-Punk, in the early 80s in the LA Punk scene morbid and brooding punk kids were playing Deathrock; it's closer to Punk Rock in sound than Post-Punk, being more about being spooky and brooding than about being eerie and romantic. Goth is to vampires and witches what Deathrock is to zombies and werewolves.

To summarize the consensus on Deathrock and its place within the goth subculture; it's rare to find a goth who's not also into at least some Deathrock, and even rarer to find a deathrocker who's not into goth. Personally, I think Deathrock is its own separate though very similar thing, but I don't mind Deathrock being lumped in with goth music.

I made a whole TikTok video on why Gothic Metal isn't a goth subgenre, but in summary; Gothic Metal is a Metal subgenre that was somewhat influenced by goth music in its earliest stage of development, but is for the most part a cross between Doom Metal and Death Metal with lyrics inspired by gothic literature. By adhering to a Metal sound it doesn't fit the type of sound goth music has. The goth influences in Gothic Metal were mostly only present in the earliest bands and a majority of the newer acts are completely disconnected from the goth scene.

As for goth's ties to the rivethead subculture (and thus, Industrial music): We've been sibling subcultures since at least the early 90s. Both very, very small and underground scenes that despite being different, had enough similarities in music, idiosyncrasy and aesthetic sensibilities to comfortably band together for the sake of scene viability. That's why you might hear people talking about the "gothic-industrial scene".

Keep in mind too that 80s and 90s Industrial music sounded very different from how it does now (compare your average Grendel or Combichrist song to your average Skinny Puppy or Die Form song). There was a lot less influence of raver music in the rivethead scene back then, and a lot more influence from 80s dark alternative music and New Wave, which are key influences for the goth scene as well.

As told by goth YouTuber Angela Benedict (goth since 1995), every goth back then listened to at least some Industrial, every rivethead listened to at least some goth music, and they all loved 80s New Wave, so DJs at shared club nights had a very easy time entertaining both audiences simultaneously.

🦇 Trivia & other things to know

The term "gothic Rock" was being used in music journalism as early as to describe releases by The Doors and The Velvet Underground, but the word "gothic" there wasn't so much used to point to a specific type of sound at that stage, it was used to imply the mood of the music and that's not where the subculture gets its name.

We don't know for sure why this subculture began to be referred to as "goth", initially the music was called either New Wave (just a darker and more underground variety of it) or Positive Punk. However, one of the potential roots of this name for our subculture is that it comes from an inside joke from members of Southern Death Cult/The Cult about Andi Sexgang (Sex Gang Children) about how he was a creepy little guy obsessed with the macabre and dark romanticism living at the Visigoth Towers, so they called him a "goth goblin" and if he was a goth, then his fans were goths too.

From the comments that the goth bloggers/vloggers I follow get, apparently it's common for baby bats and people interested in the subculture to think that they HAVE to find a goth "type" to lock themselves into, like "trad goth" or "romantic goth" or whatever else, and if they don't, they're a poser. This isn't true at all. Most goths wax and wane between fashion styles and goth music subgenres. These terms are far more useful to describe aesthetics rather than people or music.

If you ever hear people talk about "1st/2nd/3rd wave goth/Gothic Rock"; that's an (in my opinion) outdated and not too functional terminology to differentiate between "eras" of goth music, 1st wave being between 1975-1985, 2nd between 1985-1995, and 3rd between 1995-? That terminology was used widely when I was a baby bat but not so much anymore.

"Baby bat" is what a lot of more established goths call newbies! It's NOT meant as an insult nor to be condescending. It's a loving cutesy term and while of course most baby bats are very young, it's perfectly plausible to be a very grown adult and a baby bat if they just got into goth instead of getting into the subculture as a teen.

Most goth bands are easily found on Spotify except for more underground ones that haven't been active for a while (I have so many beloved bands and songs that just don't exist on Spotify), but the real goth jackpot is at Bandcamp.

Facebook is still useful for one (1) thing and it's for finding goth events; that's where I've found out about gothic fairs, goth nights and gigs; from the largely popular ones in my local scene to the very underground ones.

The song most of the subculture agrees is THE first official goth song is Bela Lugosi's Dead by Bauhaus, which was recorded as a singular take. It was the first track the band recorded together, too.

The Batcave is infamous nowadays as a huge goth night club in Soho (London) during the early 80s, owned by the band Specimen, BUT as told by the very people who used to frequent the nightclub, the whole thing has been a little overblown and its current reputation is more legend than fact. YouTuber Gothcast has a great video on the subject that was praised by members of Specimen itself!

Most of the most iconic pioneer goth musicians HATE being referred to as goths or to have their music referred to as such. When the term "goth" was first starting to be used to describe our music and scene it was a pejorative used by outsiders and/or mostly associated with the campier and more "low brow" bands (Specimen and Alien Sex Fiend come to mind). Andrew Eldritch from Sisters of Mercy especially hates it, to the point he refuses to even say the word and refers to it as "the G word". Which is hilarious since he sounded the most stereotypically gothy out of the big 4 and looked like this at the time he started to be a piss baby about it:

Goth isn't really a "youth" subculture anymore if you ask people within the scene. Unlike people from many other subcultures, goths have a tendency to stay goth far into adulthood (even if covertly). When you go to any events, besides teens and people in their early 20s, you're gonna see plenty of goths in their 40s and older, a few of them will bring their kids along if the event is family friendly.

Besides the obvious chance of many goths being professional creatives (musicians, writers, artists, etc), for some reason A LOT of goths work in tech and healthcare!

Metalheads headbang, they and punks also mosh. What do goths do to vibe to our music together? We dance! We don't dance the same as non-goths but we LOVE to dance to our music, together or solo. There's no established dance styles to adhere to; it's just letting your body flow to the music. Some goth dancing is very intricate, some of it is very simple, it depends on the goth in question. Just in case, this is NOT like the dance gifs of cybergoths/rivetheads under that damned bridge. Think less that and more Wednesday Addams dancing to The Cramps, or the girl from the Night of the Demons movie. Here's some videos about how goths dance:

We fucking love 80s New Wave. No, Depeche Mode isn't a goth band; yes, you'll have to dig deep to find a goth who doesn't ADORE them. The only one I've come across who disliked Depeche Mode liked Soft Cell instead.

Goth IS international! Not just in the sense that there's fans of goth music basically everywhere, but that there's local goth scenes with their own local goth bands everywhere. Outside of the US + Europe + Canada, there's huge goth scenes all over Latin América (our Deathrock and Post-Punk are at times even popular among 1st world goths), and there's also smaller but still present goth scenes in Africa, Asia and Oceania. She Past Away is very much one of THE most popular goth bands in recent years and they're from Turkey.

The goth scene has always been in friendly terms with the LGBT community. Not only are many of our biggest icons LGBT themselves (the whole band Specimen, AVC from Sopor Aeternus, both members of Diavol Strâin, the vocalist from Male Tears, Cinnamon Hadley, and many more) but plenty of cishet goths (especially the men) embrace gender non-conformity and/or androgyny. In most local scenes, goth club nights are held at gay bars/nightclubs, as they don't tend to have privately owned venues. And either way, at any goth night there'll be tons of gay and gender non-conforming goths no matter where they're held. To varying degrees depending on the locality of the scene, gay and bi people are completely normalized in the goth subculture, and gender non-conformity and androgyny aren't just encouraged, but praised and coveted.

There's goths of any religion you can think of, but Neo Pagans are somewhat over-represented in our community compared to the rest of larger society (for better or worse). Funnily enough, very few goths are actually Satanists of any sort. I'd say the numbers go more or less similar to our local non-goth peers. In the West and westernized countries I'd say it goes; majority culturally-Christian atheist or agnostic goths (usually not militant about it), a few practicing Christians of whichever denomination (usually whichever is dominant in the country they inhabit), the rare but entirely plausible Jewish, Muslim or Buddhist goth, and a bunch of Neo-Pagans. Probably one (1) or two (2) actual Satanist goths per state/province/etc, tops.

World Goth Day is celebrated every year on May 22nd.

"Mallgoth" isn't a type of goth in either a musical or fashion sense. I made another TikTok about it, but in summary; it was originally hurled as an insult towards a very specific type of poser; the American kids in the late 90s and early 00s who imitated how goths dressed and called themselves goths while only listening to Nu Metal and maybe the most mainstream Industrial Metal. They tended to congregate at malls and behave particularly obnoxious to everyone there, further ruining our already delicate image (especially at that time).

Cybergoths aren't really goths either. Their music scene is centered around EBM, which is basically slightly darker and slightly more aggressive raver music that may or may not have Industrial influences. And to be honest they behaved like a rapacious invasive species in goth club nights to the point that they almost decimated the actual goth scene and it took us a while to recover from that.

Goths are sometimes perceived as too self-serious but honestly? We love making fun of ourselves and we tend to have a very silly or dry sense of humor. We're just tired of the same cheap and inaccurate jokes made by people who don't know anything about us. The best jokes about goths will often come from goths ourselves; you can only properly make fun of something you understand well! The few times outsiders get it right though? (Sad to confirm that the South Park goth kids are hilarious and I wish they were in a better show) You'll see goths sharing the SHIT out of it, such as me being obsessed with the goths from Ridonculous Race, or the clip below:

[virgomoon-deactivated20240514]

a collection of my playlists highlighting black artists in multiple genres of music. a little late for BHM but better late than never <3 enjoy! suggestions and additions are always welcome.

black people created rock: a forever growing playlist of various sub - genres of rock made by black artists and musicians; from classic rock, pop punk, rock rap, metal, post hardcore, etc. from underground bands, popular artists experimenting with their sound, artists from other genres collaborating with rock stars, and more!

a southern gothic tale: country / folk / blues / bluegrass; there are some rap / pop songs that include country elements in them but for the most part it's what you think.

black alternative: black artists that make music outside of the expectation. alt [rnb/pop], hyperpop, indie [pop/rock], dream - pop, bedroom pop; you name it, it's probably in here.

black g!rl pvnk !: similar to my black people created rock playlist, except it's just black women. this playlist also includes rap that takes heavy inspiration from alternative subculture.

juicy fruit, certified bubble yum: [bubblegum] pop by black artists. oftentimes our music gets categorized as rnb / urban / hip hop even when it's clearly not! there's been a historical record of black music being put in the wrong categories by reviewers and the academy trying to box black music into a box. while some songs may have rnb elements, it's clear that they're classic, well-made, and respected pop songs!

[itwashotwestayedinthewater]

i....found a rare shoegaze tape. legit. band does not exist online. tape is at least 20 years old. This is so Sam

[itwashotwestayedinthewater]

rare tape.

[itwashotwestayedinthewater]

ok ok....track for you from rare tape. ripped by me

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[itwashotwestayedinthewater]

I HAVE SOURCED MORE INFO!!!! from my friend who works at an nz audio archive and they HAVE THE TAPE THERE? COVER:

[itwashotwestayedinthewater]

Final info ive put together after i have just looked over the insert notes (inside the other tape) sent to me by my friend:

This band had Steven Wells and Andrew Bain in it - they went on to be in a pretty popular NZ rock band called Fur Patrol from late 90s-2000s, so this is a precursor to that. in the notes they also thank Campbell Kneale, a prolific underground nz musician in bands like Birchville Cat Motel and Black Boned Angel. they also thank "Drinkwater".

[itwashotwestayedinthewater]

alright everyone. after 33k+ notes on an obscure 90s indie song from Aotearoa i gotta admit many want to hear the rest, & as i cant think of a better format to supply this, here's the rest of the tape in this post. please let it stay here where it needs to be, don't spread it like its yours. its not mine either! i now present to you: Clayflower - Still (1993, Aotearoa, Cassette, Shoegaze/Indie Rock)

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beautiful and cool obscure music like this is everywhere if you just wanna look for it even for a few minutes. dont let yourself think someone has to come along and show it to you <3