BAUHAUS
sure, easy to pigeonhole these cats as "the Godfathers of Goff", 'cuz they ... were.
but they proved to be an extremely versatile lot, ranging anywhere from furious punk to whimsical trip outs to spacious dub/funk to post-punk minimalism - sometimes in the same song.
... but, make no mistake, they did earn the Goth label - and they certainly didn't eschew it like others (hai, Andrew Eldritch), but they also didn't stagnate in the atmosphere, either ... the horror and sacred imagery and doom n' gloom are aplenty - they were more Hammer Studio, or "The Wicker Man", as opposed to, say, the Misfits/Cramps - who were more straight up TROMA, or "Texas Chainsaw Massacre".
the band were extremely tight, and very talented - Daniel Ash is the great unsung guitar hero of the post-punk era ... started off aping Keith Levene (P.i.L.), then graduated to his own sonic signatures - the guy can just flat-out play/noodle/shred.
David J and Kevin Haskins are as competent and grooving a rhythm section as you'll find in this era ... the band's wild swings and versatility owe a great deal to those two providing the meaty backbone for those excursions.
these three chaps got to flex a ton more as Tones on Tail, then later as Love and Rockets - very successful in those iterations.
Peter Murphy is a quintessential frontman - he just
looks like BAUHAUS - hard to describe, but his gaunt and sometimes sallow features fit the oeuvre to perfection ... as does his incomparable voice - i wanna stop short of calling him "Bowie with incredible pipes", but i just did. guy could bring it in any register or octave ... that voice lent as much to their image as any other peripheral ... hard to fathom anybody else fronting this menagerie of menace.
love this group - when i began my move away from punk, these were the cats that first caught my ear - the path they took me down did not disappoint - outstanding legacy, remarkable output.
the list are IN.








