REVIEW: The Gothtones – ‘Gothtones’
On their fourth full-length ‘Gothtones’, Chicago’s The Gothtones unearth a thrilling labyrinth of sound and shadow, weaving everything from post-punk menace to junkyard blues swagger. Helmed by Jerret Cortese (Laundry) alongside multi-instrumentalist Doug Patinka, the record feels like a haunted house tour through rock’s darker corridors, and it’s irresistibly fun.
Opening with ‘Piranha’, the band immediately bites into you with razor-sharp hooks and sly lyrical turns. It’s a track that slithers and snaps, propelled by gnarly guitars and cryptic refrains that gnaw at your subconscious. Meanwhile, ‘The Two Of Us’ drifts into more spectral territory, evoking a late-night confessional that shivers beneath peeling wallpaper and midnight doubts.
Each song feels like its own dimly lit chapter. ‘Tragedy Menagerie’ reads like a twisted cabaret, its piano lines and layered harmonies building a beautiful tension between theatricality and existential dread. Then there’s ‘Skin And Bones’, a desperate city-night plea that gnashes its teeth at the cruelty of survival. Filmer’s delivery here is raw and feral, like a ghost clawing its way through concrete.
Elsewhere, the band unspools cinematic horror with ‘Deadbolt And Chain’, a tongue-in-cheek thriller that imagines the night creeping right past your locks. ‘The Candivores’ leans into Halloween kitsch and gothic humour, chomping away with playful malevolence. By the time we reach ‘Requiem In Blue’, the mood shifts into mournful poetry; water metaphors and spectral echoes turn it into a gothic torch song that sinks beneath the waves.
Patinka’s fingerprints are everywhere, while guest vocalists Amelea Tshilds, Carolyn Engelmann, and Filmer each add distinctive ghostly touches. The album feels remarkably cohesive despite its wild genre wanderings, thanks to Cortese’s unmistakable songwriting and lyrical voice.
There’s a deep reverence here for gothic rock’s grand tradition (Bauhaus, Joy Division), but ‘Gothtones’ never feels like simple homage. It’s stitched together with sly humour, dark romance, and jagged edges. It’s the type of record that would be at home spinning in a shadowy basement club or soundtracking a lone, rainy night drive.
As The Gothtones set off on their national tour this fall, ‘Gothtones’ stands as their most audacious statement yet, a midnight mixtape for the beautifully doomed, and a testament to the enduring power of shadowy, shape-shifting rock.