Tuesday 8 September 2015

No. 27 Bauhaus - Searching For Satori E.P.

Yet more goth, in fact, pretty much the same goth. For those in the know or who've been paying attention will note that this is the 1982 reissue of 1981's Kick In The Eye. I assume the reissue was a strategy to gain Bauhaus the top 40 hit that had, to this point, eluded them. It didn't work; this peaked at number 45. The band would have to wait until later in the year to finally make an impact on the (in those days) all important UK top 40, when their cover of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust reached number 15. 


You do get two new b-sides for your money with the reissue. Harry is a good example of Bauhaus' dabbling in reggae, whilst Earwax heads off in an altogether more dubby direction. Reggae and dub was an obvious influence on the punk and new wave scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but as far as I know Bauhaus were the only goth band who demonstrated their interest so overtly - as both these tracks demonstrate, they clearly had an ear for the genre. Earwax in particular, manages to be both goth and dub simultaneously. Both are well worth a listen.