Album: Bauhaus, Go Away White (Cooking Vinyl)

Original architects of the goth-rock aesthetic, Bauhaus established a look and a sound that has sustained over a quarter of a century, all the way through to the likes of Marilyn Manson.

Having reformed to record Go Away White, the group then decided it would be their swansong – which, given the result, comes as no real surprise. There’s something utterly tragic about forty-something goths still mired in teen-angst alienation.

Musically too, it sounds dated, the band’s brutal funk-rock stomps steamrollering over any subtleties, while vocalist Pete Murphy’s stern aloofness simply recalls Diamond Dogs-era Bowie.

As for the band’s retirement, one can only imagine they were persuaded by their own argument, in “Too Much 21st Century”, that there's just “too much rock, too much conceit”.

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