3 Reasons Why 2023 Was a Very Goth Year

The Goth and Darkwave underground has always haunted the fringes of mainstream music in America. While the pioneers of the genre certainly flourished in the late ‘70s through the early ‘90s—including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, The Cure, and The Sisters of Mercy—the genre has pretty much resided in the “bubbling under” category of the mainstream for the last three decades. During that time we have seen a wide range of styles, from ethereal wave to cybergoth, emerge, and Goth has continued its crossover with synth-pop, New Wave, and industrial music.

The eternal truth is that Goth never fades away. While the club scenes in various cities are probably not as proliferate as they were back in the 1990s, there’s still a vast interest in the music thanks to streaming sites like Bandcamp, Spotify, and YouTube. And it is precisely because of the interwebs that this music is rising again. Even if there is a deluge of music coming out, there is a wealth of exciting young talent doing everything from keeping classic traditions alive to exploring new boundaries. One can check out various Reddit and Facebook posts to see how people’s picks for favorite bands and releases are pretty diverse. (And whenever a story like this in a mainstream outlet comes out, people will eagerly chime in with their own picks because they are passionate about the music.)

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Although it seems appropriate that the genre never quite pierces the mainstream veil. The culture has often been populated by outliers and is predicated on being different. Having the masses embrace it would simply dilute its appeal. But it is heartening that so much activity is happening again, from recorded music to tours to festivals to occasional mainstream crossovers like Jenna Ortega’s dance on Netflix’s Wednesday series. It maintains the culture while also refreshing it, and it feels like 2024 has more exciting music in store.

1. Projekt Records

The idea of defining what goth is in 2023 is more challenging than it was back in the 1980s and ‘90s, but that’s part of what keeps it so intriguing. This year saw the 40th anniversary of the pioneering label Projekt Records. Early on, founder Sam Rosenthal instinctively bridged different dark music subgenres on both his label and his import mail order service, an ethos that he continues to this day and which was ahead of its time. His own group Black Tape For a Blue Girl has been around nearly as long.

2. Goth on Tour

Overall, 2023 was a banner year for the Goth genre and its offshoots. All of the aforementioned progenitors went out on tour with the exception of Bauhaus, two-thirds of which was still represented by Love and Rockets. And Siouxsie went solo for her North American live return after 15 years. Both the California-based Cruel World and Darker Waves festivals, which appealed to ‘80s fans of New Wave, synth-pop, alt-rock, and goth to varying degrees, featured a number of classic and newer acts. Plenty of veteran artists were also still performing out there, like Clan of Xymox, the March Violets, The Bellwether Syndicate, 45 Grave, and punk crossovers The Damned.

Plenty of other dark artists toured in 2023 as well: Kælan Mikla, A Cloud Of Ravens (opening for Sisters Of Mercy), Creux Lies, Night Club, She Past Away, and Cold Cave among them. After 30 years, Australian Goth band Ikon made their North American debut in NYC over Labor Day weekend. There are also numerous festivals around the country – A Murder Of Crows (NYC), Cold Waves (Chicago), Sanctum (Chicago), and Verboden (Vancouver) to check out, on top of the aforementioned band touring activity and whatever local Goth nights there are in different cities.

We’re seeing more breakout acts in the dark music world. Twin Tribes played numerous festivals and toured the States this year, and in 2024 they will hit the road in the U.S., Central and South America, and Europe. The enigmatic Drab Majesty toured with shoegaze pioneers Slowdive, and they’re reuniting live again next year after the former treks across Europe. Molchat Doma, the trio from Belarus who sing in Russian, did a nearly two-month U.S. tour of venues that have capacities ranging from 1,000 to 3,500 people – pretty impressive for a band that gets little press here and doesn’t sing in English.

3. Baby Bats

Beyond all the stats, it seems like some among Gen Z are starting to embrace their spooky side which is a good thing because “baby bats” (newbie Goths) have been more in shorter supply than back in the ‘90s when the subculture really thrived. Given that the ‘90s were a strong time for the Goth underground, and we are in the midst of reliving that decade culturally, it makes sense when a story about Goths showing their fashion sense in corporate America emerges. The same thing was going on back then too. (How widespread of a trend it really is today is up for debate, but TikTok is abuzz with it so that’s encouraging.)

Photo by David Redfern/Redferns