Zola Jesus

[Joey Deadcat]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/apr/16/scene-heard-american-gothic

Scene and heard: American gothic Zola Jesus is the moody harbinger of a new crop of US underground acts updating the gothic-rock aesthetic

Like a young Siouxsie Sioux ... Zola Jesus

An amazing record came out a couple of weeks back. It's called Stridulum, it's six tracks long, and it's the work of a 21-year old vocalist from Madison, Wisconsin named Nika Roza Danilova who records under the name Zola Jesus. Nika is a former opera student, and that really shows in her music: huge, heart-wrenching songs powered forth on epic synth and crashing war drums.

She is also, as you will spot from the photo above, what one might call a goth. Not being rude, we're going strictly on archetype here: with her back-combed hair, inch-thick make-up and black head-to-toe dress code, Nika looks like the young Siouxsie Sioux reincarnate. And while such a thing wouldn't always bode well, she appears to be just the harbinger of a new crop of US underground acts updating the gothic rock aesthetic in new and often surprising ways. Bats, snakebite and extensive piercings do not feature. Romantic and doomed musings on love, death and the death of love remain present and correct.

You'll probably already be familiar with Cold Cave, whose 2009 LP Love Comes Close offered an austere update on the dark end of early 1980s synth pop (think the sepulchural sounds of New Order circa Movement, not Yazoo). You might not be so familiar with New York's Blacklist, whose debut album Midnight of the Century updates the bombastic, windswept post-punk of the Cult and early U2. Or San Diego's Blessure Grave, a boy-girl lo-fi duo who Photoshop themselves into pitch-black silhouettes on their record sleeves and play a murky death-rock that makes Interpol sound positively chipper in comparison.

If there is a granddaddy for this current wave of literate, often lo-fidelity gloom, it's Xiu Xiu, the ongoing project of songwriter Jamie Stewart. Stewart, who has been recording since 2002, is a sort of Morrissey figure, balancing his harrowing lyrics – favoured topics include extreme self-loathing, suicide and child abuse – with a mordant black humour (it takes a certain self-awareness, after all, to name an album Dear God, I Hate Myself).

Pretty much everything Stewart has recorded makes for compelling listening, and that goes too for a new side project he's put his name to. Former Ghosts, the brainchild of electronic composer/producer Freddy Ruppert, also features contributions from Zola Jesus, and their debut album is a brooding, sometimes jarring collage of synths, beats and angst that's not always easy on the ears, but is starkly original throughout. Former Ghosts come to the UK for the first time next month; they are strongly recommended for those of an intense disposition, but remember, black nail varnish and pan stick is not mandatory.

Edited April 19, 2010 by Joey Deadcat

[Simon Bar Sinister]

thanks! will be checking all of them out.

:D

[Simon Bar Sinister]

sorry for the double post...but Blacklist is awesome!

[Joey Deadcat]

Zola Jesus are good and Blessure are one of my favorites. Been seeing people rave about Xiu Xiu as well.

A nice and much-needed change of pace for goth.

[DJ Nocker]

Goth died in the mid 90's, now its just dark indy music.

[Pulse State]

There are plenty of bands still out and about. One example: The Australian Goth rock/darkwave act Ikon continue to put out new works, their latest album (Love, Hate and Sorrow) having been borne from down under in 2009. It's mighty fine as well, though not as raucous as the album that preceded it (Destroying the World to Save It, 2005). These boys from Oz are personal favorites, even with a vocalist change in the late 90's.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Pulse State

[Darus313]

Joey

Very impressive find... - i am going to pick there CDs.

Love the sound and feel of her voice....

D

[Joey Deadcat]

Goth died in the mid 90's, now its just dark indy music.

Actually, it is pretty often tagged as dark indy music. Among the bands and in the scene there is a deliberate avoidance of the "G" word.

[~Tszura~]

Wow! She rocks! It's times like this where I just wish clueless dorkwads like Justin Bieber would fall off the the earth so that the rest of the world could see what true talent is.

Thanks for the find Deadcat!

[DJ Nocker]

Actually, it is pretty often tagged as dark indy music. Among the bands and in the scene there is a deliberate avoidance of the "G" word.

I know...thats why I said it. lol

[Joey Deadcat]

Was actually gonna play some lo-fi/indie stuff and the final Deadline but cds were acting up on me.

[Joey Deadcat]

Indie/lo-fi goth, folks. It's current.

[Necromanta]

We played some Blank Dogs at one point.

[Joey Deadcat]

We played some Blank Dogs at one point.

At Deadline?

[Necromanta]

Yep.

[DJ Nocker]

After hearing "Lady in The Radiator" I was sold, any one who makes songs dedicated to good movies is neat.

[DJDeadbeat]

Babygrrrl. <3

[the_fairy_gothmother]

Goths not dead because I'm still alive lol.

[DJ Nocker]

Goths not dead because I'm still alive lol.

...you listen to goth music?

[DJDeadbeat]

Goth was never dead, it was just stale for a few years here and there.

[st_masey]

I don't like much of what I've heard of those other two acts, but Xiu Xiu is definitely one of the most interesting acts to come out of the last decade.

[DJDeadbeat]

I don't like much of what I've heard of those other two acts, but Xiu Xiu is definitely one of the most interesting acts to come out of the last decade.

Xiu Xiu is fucking insane.

[the_fairy_gothmother]

...you listen to goth music?

yes I do

[WhiteLines]

just checked this out after hearing about it on here, and i gotta say its some pretty good stuff. Not exactly the type of music i usually listen to, but variety is the spice of life after all... or is it that variety is the spice of the afterlife...