SOUND CHECK S C

by Daniel Cochrane

Desmond Doom is a mystery. With artist information pages on both Spotify and Bandcamp virtually bereft of information and no discernable social media digital footprint, the Melbourne, Australia, artist undoubtedly takes the less-is-more approach. The solitary breadcrumb Desmond Doom offers a fan is this descriptor of his catalog "Desmond Doom sounds Joy Division, and The Smiths started a band in Eastern Europe." Doom delivers on this promise, ticking all of the boxes of the doom/goth aesthetic with shrill, piercing guitars, rolling bass lines, and droning monotone lyrics pontificating on love, life, misanthropy, and alienation. The Surf Goth E.P. and its companion, Surf Goth B-Sides EP, were released in August and December of last year. Personal favorites include "I Hope I Never See Your Face Again," "The Dissociation Song," "Now That You're Gone," and "Take me Back'" from the Surf Goth E.P. Standouts from Surf Goth B-Sides EP include "Bonnie and Clyde," "Mavra Sinnefa (Black Clouds)," and the tongue and cheek "You'll Never be A Rockstar (That's OK)." In addition to the two E.P.s, four other singles from 2022 can also be found on Bandcamp. Desmond's latest singles, 2023's, Disease, can be found on both Spotify and Bandcamp. Highly recommend dreary yet infectious, gloom-goth beach pop that takes itself seriously enough to be enjoyable, but not so serious to seem cliché.

2022 Self-Released

Glaring is the ethereal coldwave (think dark downtempo with haunting wispy vocals) project of German-based Anna Nin. The Schweben (German for "hover/float/levitation") E.P. is her latest release in a relatively short but prolific career, producing eight self-released albums since 2018. At only five tracks and under thirteen minutes, Schweben is a brief yet robust listen. What I especially enjoy with the Schweben EP (and Glaring releases in general) is the thought Anna Nin places on overall pacing and track order. This is, lamentably, a dying art in today's digital landscape of Tik Tok snippets and sound bite-based viral culture. "Jeder Stribt Allein" (Everyone Dies Alone) opens the E.P. with a slow pulsing bass line and is accompanied by swirling layers of synth and, finally, Anna's haunting vocals. As the piece fades title track, "Schweben," takes over, upping the ante with stronger beats and increasingly growing synths and vocals working its way into a frenetic conclusion. "Wie Lange Noch" (For How Much Longer) holds to E.P.'S pivotal middle slot and is an even faster rhythm of traditional coldwave bass beats and echoing synths, perhaps reminiscent of a lost composition from The Cure during their most glorious and grandiose Disintegration era recordings. The Penultimate "Unreal" brings the listener back down from the everincreasing pace of the previous three tracks with a slower offering before the closer "Ende" bombards the listener with the fiercest pulsing synths and quickest pace of the E.P. All in all, each of the five tracks of "Schweben" could fit within any D.J.'s set list at your local club's goth night, as long as said D.J. shares Glaring's appreciation for cadence and pacing. Highly recommended for pow days, late-night solo driving sessions, or even rainy Sunday evening background music.

Black Tapestry is a newly formed Desert Darkwave duo from Sedona, Arizona. I've always had an affinity for Arizona bands since my teenage discoveries of The Meat Puppets and skate punk stalwarts J.F.A. The desert land and the seclusion that accompanies it permeates the region's artists, giving them a unique sound no matter their musical genre. Black Tapestry's embrace of their desert roots is immediately apparent from the first chords of "Nocturnal Flight (Bats and Owls)," the opening offering from the band's debut L.P. "Monsoon." In fact, the duo's affinity for their desert roots isn't just a passive affair. Monsoon is a love letter to the desert, from guitar riffs that wash over the listener like the hot desert breeze to the subject matter of many of the band's songs, such as ravens, reptiles, monsoon rains, sinkhole lake Montezuma's Well, and the previously mentioned nightly excursions of bats and owls. Musically the album gives me vibes of The Kills and occasionally The Ravonettes, especially where the guitars are concerned. Adding pipe organ styled synths provides the album with a nice touch and anchors the darker tone of their music and lyrics. Black Tapestry's second release of 2022, "Monsoon Revamped," finds the band reimagining their previous album by exploring the darkwave category with remixes featuring more pronounced beats and synths. I particularly appreciate how Black Tapestry's original songs and their respective remixes give two completely different listening experiences. Sometimes I prefer one to the other, but that changes frequently. Listening to one album inevitably leads me toward its companion. The band’s latest single, 17 Years, an ode to the emergence of the Cicada was released in April of this year. With only a few dozen monthly listeners on Spotify, Black Tapestry is still looking to find a broad audience in a seemingly limitless sea of options. I hope you will give them a listen and agree that they are well deserving of your attention.

Cassette Drift

Phrase of Silence (single)

2022 Self-Released

Salt Lake City's Cassette Drift creates swirling cinematic compositions with influences from such acts as Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, and Drab Majesty, as well as their associated genres, including post-punk, shoegaze, and darkwave. Admittedly, Cassette Drift is the odd band out in this issue's batch of musical offerings. I wouldn't label them as having a traditional darkwave/goth aesthetic, perhaps more Cinematic Noir or goth adjacent. They are an example of the phenomenon I jokingly refer to as "the Depeche Mode principle." Few listeners would categorize Depeche Mode as goth, but plenty of goths listen to Depeche Mode. Let's just haphazardly classify them as "goth adjacent." The duo, composed of Aaron Valentine and Mike Smith, themselves sons of musicians, have put out two full-lengths (2019's International Fateline and 2020's Effortless) and several singles. Their latest effort is the "Phrase of Silence" single with a B-Side cover of The Cure's "A Forest." "Phrase of Silence" is a synth-heavy up-tempo effort that opens with a hard-pounding bass line. It eventually gives way to their signature-layered sound bolstered by echoing guitars and synth accompaniments. Their cover of "A Forest" is my favorite cover style in which a band offers a rendition of a song in their own style. The cover retains much of its original bones; however, the listener is given a glimpse of what "A Forest" would sound like if Cassette Drift originated it (side note the band's 2020 cover of Wang Chung's "To Live and Die in L.A." is another excellent example in this style of a criminally underrated 80's synth/noir gem). I highly recommend Cassette Drift for their moody, '80s-tinged compositions especially for mellow late-night headphone sessions. Cassette Drift is found on streaming platforms but is supported best via Bandcamp.