Bauhaus - Go Away White

New album, same problem: splitting at the wrong time

Typical! After reforming, twice, the greatest goth/glam group of all announce that they will split up again after releasing this first album of original material since 1983’s Burning From The Inside. Once again, the egos have landed, although rumours suggest that, like Japan before them, the rupture was caused by a squabble over a girlfriend.

That aside, entering the studio with no pre-written material, the band spent 18 days playing and then laying down these 10 songs, mostly in single takes; all high-risk stuff which was always par for the Bauhaus golf course. Rich dividends are yielded on metallic tracks such as Too Much 21st Century, Adrenaline and the glam stomp of International Bulletproof Talent, which ends in thrilling fashion with the band pulling hard on the reins while Murphy takes one more chorus. The rhythm section of the Haskins brothers is rock-hard, while guitarist Daniel Ash, allegedly using Jimi Hendrix’s original Vox wah wah pedal, sounds fantastic.

It’s not all plain sailing. The meandering Saved sails close to the wind of pretentiousness. Ah, this really is like the old days! Not a perfect tombstone, but one that shows that Bauhaus have not gone meekly into the night.

Cooking Vinyl | COOKCD 455

Reviewed by Ian Shirley
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