Goth: A History | Lol Tolhurst

Goth is in the air, like a faint waft of patchouli. In the last year there have been biographies (The Sisters of mercy), autobiographies (Wayne Hussey), oral histories (Joy division) and two great tomes on the subculture itself from John Robb and Cathi Unsworth. Now, a new title has arrived - this one from Lol Tolhurst, the co-founder of The Cure, surely the best known progenitor of the look and sound we've come to identify with goth. It's dead good too.

Over three engaging chapters, Tolhurst maps out the origins, architects and alchemists of this singular subculture, making sure to stop on the way to take in some  of the poets, authors and philosophers who have always made goth much more of a multi-layered subject. 

It's a personal journey that takes in early prototypes, like The Doors and Suicide, the architects of the post-punk darkness, such as Bauhaus and Siouxsie, and the artists and bands that have pushed the dark arts on. It is this last section where the influence of goth, the way it manages to change and shift, can be seen most clearly - with artists as diverse as Nine Inch Nails, The Cocteau Twins, and All About Eve coming into the light.

Goth is a true insiders take on a subculture, that in 2023, is clawing its way back overground

Measures: 162 x 241mm