In this month’s subscriber podcast we kick off Goth Week with a Goth-Off as Luke and John debate which is the best Cure album – 1982’s heavy, moody bad trip Pornography, or 1989’s grandiose and lovelorn Disintegration? They work out that your conclusion will likely depend on whether you prefer records made by people off their nuts and building huts with beer crates in the recording studio, or more studied and controlled craftwork from Robert Smith. Along the way, tQ’s editors discuss their own personal histories with goth as a form and a hairstyle inspiration, the difference between the goth and the gothic, and why being a goth starts with going to church. The Cure introduced John to existentialism, philosophy and a childhood desire to look like Robert Smith, and he makes a case for ‘100 Years’ having the greatest horror lyrics to any rock song. Luke, on the other hand, says that if the essence of goth is in the tension between romance and despair, then Disintegration can’t be bettered. John also discusses his quest to find a place to play Warhammer 40k in London, and Luke is full of praise for spy telly series Slow Horses.
Thanks to our producer Alannah Chance, Lisa Cradduck for the illustration, and your continued support of what we do.
Thanks to our producer Alannah Chance, to Lisa Cradduck for the illustration and thanks to you, dear reader, for helping us do what we do.
To listen, you’ll need to subscribe to be a Quietus Low Culture or Sound & Vision subscriber via the Steady checkout below. This podcast is just one of a host of perks including monthly playlists of all the music we’re covering on the site, a bonus long-form Low Culture essay and the Organic Intelligence newsletter deep dive into genres you’ve barely heard of, from Scandinavian Balearic to the Swiss 80s underground. Sound & Vision subscribers also get an exclusive music release every month, commissioned by us.
