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Oct 30, 2023 By Frank Valish

In Goth: A History, Cure co-founder Lol Tolhurst presents a personalized history of the genre that his band was so instrumental in creating. The book is something of a catch-all for all things gothic. Tolhurst weaves his narrative through discussion of literature, architecture, and style, but primarily his discussion revolves around music.

He begins with discussion of pre-goth artists, those who paved the way for the genre to ultimately take rise in the ‘80s, artists like Alice Cooper, Nico, The Doors, Marc Bolan, and David Bowie. He then devotes chapters to bands that are synonymous with the genre: Joy Division, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and of course The Cure. Each band’s history is presented, and important genre albums are discussed. His own band is given plenty of space, as Tolhurst provides history of the trilogy of Seventeen Seconds, Faith, and Pornography.

Tolhurst then branches out into discussion of other like-minded groups, like Cocteau Twins, Sisters of Mercy, and The Damned, afterward moving on to present the case for modern-day goths, most notably Nine Inch Nails.

Goth: A History is a personalized history. Tolhurst does not purport to represent goth in punctilious or exhaustive fashion. And where the book is most successful is where Tolhurst injects himself into the narrative, his stories, his experiences, his relationships and personal encounters with the different players involved. This is where the excellence of Goth lies: in a goth presenting his view of goth through experiential knowledge, humanizing a culture that is stereotyped for the dark and doomy. (www.hachettebookgroup.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10