Dark Cabaret to Keep Halloween Spooky & Fun
Oh boy, somebody found a way to make John Wayne Gacy even scarier.
Brendan McGinley
Dark cabaret! What is it? Who plays it? Does it involve the ladies in stockings who kick very high? The answer to all of these questions is: “Halloween!” Which is to say, there’s no better time to examine this subgenre of music than the happy, horrific holiday. While dark cabaret isn’t goth, it often overlaps with it and has similar roots (think rock vs. rockabilly, or punk vs. oi) that lead it to similar ground. Cabaret’s brash, fun, sly, and self-aware. Goth is none of those things. It’s their antagonistic pairing that makes them so much fun. Just like Samhain, it’s spooky, but just like Halloween, it’s also fun to be scared.
Anyway, that’s how we came to recommend songs about dead babies. To the YouTubes!
RELATED: Bands you should be listening to
The Tiger Lillies
Aw, the Tiger Lillies — is that a Natalie Merchant cover band? No, nay, ne’er, nary! This falsetto-fronted trio has released an amazing 36 hoo-boy-that’s-a-lot albums since 1994. Though they’re more whatcha call punk cabaret, we ask you, is’t not both punk and goth to sing about murdering babies? Because that’s what they did with “Baby Killer”on 2010’s Cockatoo Prison, a compendium of criminal crooner craftings. Hey, the Tiger Lillies work hard to put out a ton of material, and if the Industrial Revolution taught us anything, you can’t ramp up production without killing some kids. LOL, the world is a terrible, dark place. Let the Tiger Lillies show you that in their 2nd person portrait of Jack the Ripper, “Jack.” At least, we think it’s Jack the Ripper. Dear heaven, what if there’s another serial killer named Jack out there right now? Ooh, but what if his last name’s O’Lantern and he commits his greatest crime on Halloween? That would almost be worth a few lives.
Aurelio Voltaire
Voltaire, lately “Aurelio Voltaire,” is one cool dude. His music’s rollicking, he teaches art, and draws some darkly funny webcomics. He’s whatever comes after gothic when goths discover their sense of humor. And he’s an animator! So he can make his own videos. Dang, Voltaire, are you living the dream? Because it sounds like you’re living the dream. Dude creates and creates and creates across genres, then teaches others to do the same. Is that not delightful?
The Peculiar Pretzelmen
If you ask The Pretzelmen they’d say they play Voodoo Mayhem Stomp Rock, and while every one of those descriptors is accurate, they’re probably the only ones who can truly lay claim to that fine a point on the outcropping of music mountain where they live. And nobody wants to see the Pretzelmen become hermits! If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears a song about its death, isn’t the song’s sound still kickass? Yes, so we’re bringing them here to you.
Jill Tracy
The sultana of sultry spook, Jill Tracy pretty much straight up sings about murder and torture all day. Even in the shower? One wonders. What if it’s a bright, beautiful morning, sun streams in the window, and Tracy’s humming a new tune to herself, wondering what rhymes with “poison” and “strangulation.” Don’t get us, wrong, though, she makes it fun, slinky, and sexy. We’d crawl backwards up a hill made of our loved ones’ bones for the chance to have her lay her eggs inside us.
We can picture tapping our toe to this at a cool West Village bar while sipping a gin & absinthe is what we’re saying. (Is that a real drink? Holy crow, it is!) There’s no question why she’s the queen of not only a swath of sound that she and she alone occupies, but the gothic and steampunk cultures as well.
The Dresden Dolls
You can’t talk dark cabaret without saying The Dresden Dolls. Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione bring not just sound but spectacle with elaborate show productions, and drag the audience into the whole affair–although that might just be so everyone involved is complicit in their crimes and can’t snitch. Though they never broke up, their output and touring has been minimal while they pursue solo projects.
Almost, but Not Quite Dark Cabaret
Sweet Sweet Lies — “The Day I Change”
Sweet Sweet Lies wasn’t a dark cabaret band, but when they turned their attentions to it–hoo boy!–did this now-defunct band get it right. If Leonard Cohen get snarly rather than smoother as he got angry, that would be “The Day I Change,” which
Categorizing them as anything would be difficult since their own description is “Sweet Sweet Lies are best described as a band” whose personal interests are “We write songs about love.” You know what? Anything that defies death despite being a bit broken inside probably qualifies as almost dark cabaret here, as long as the sound is right.
The Clash — “Lose this Skin”
The Clash??! The only band that matters? The punker punks than punk, on this list? “Man Cave!” you froth, “You are in trolling territory!” Oh yeah? Well don’t forget how experimental The Clash were willing to get, including bringing in Joe Strummer’s old bandmate from The 101ers, Tymon Dogg, to pull some truly creepy violin strings and vocals. The result is this single from Sandinista!, that doesn’t take long to bore under the bone and weird out the listener.
Brendan McGinley is editor round these parts when not writing comics or Cracked columns. You can say a neighborly hello to him on Twitter @BrendanMcGinley. You’d probably enjoy his supervillain comic Heist, if you’re a fan of tarnished souls and brutal retribution.
Crime pays.
For another interesting act reaching back to the 19th century, you’re going to want to be reading our Interview with Professor Elemental.
The weird thing is, he’s not even the only steampunk battle rapper out there.
