And Love said NO, Bitches.

As many of you may know, I totally dig HIM. They have got to be the most unabashedly godawful, lugubrious, ubergoth rock band on the planet. With songs like "Join Me in Death," "When Love and Death Embrace," "The Funeral of Hearts," and--my favorite--"Buried Alive By Love," they have proven themselves to be the literal musical incarnation of the godawful poetry every fourteen-year-old goth girl's has scribbled in the back of her Honors English notebook.

I mean, my gods, people--check out ( these lyrics. )

Last night, I downloaded their greatest hits album (or whatever it is) And Love Said No and I realized something very profound: they are literally the CHEESIEST GOTH BAND EVER. Two Witches and The Impaler and Lestat have nothing on these boys. I swear to all the Other Gods, I have never heard anything so wanky in my entire life.

And yet...at the same time...they are such a musically talented band. I mean, they're no Otto von Schirach or My Favorite or Komputer, but as far as bands just making good, fairly up-tempo, danceable goth rock, they're this generations Sisters of Mercy--they use a lot of the same guitar effects, a lot of the same synth arrangements, and whatnot. Which prettymuch makes them the veritable king of all the Sister of Mercy Wannabe Bands ever, but that's okay: I'd rather listen to music that bites on the wangs of bands that were actually good and had talent than listen to all this bad trance  and pseduo-deathrock garbage that passes itself off as goth these days.

It's a sad commentary on the current state of goth rock that I listen to pud-pulling, derivative wank like HIM and love it  because it's just so well-composed, musically, and it reminds me of the days when goth rock really was cool.

Kids these days don't know what they missed....