Bauhaus: Mask

Bauhaus: Mask

1981

Beggar's Banquet Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Hair of the Dog  2. Passion of Lovers  3. Of Lilies and Remains  4. Dancing  5. Hollow Hills  6. Kick in the Eye  7. In Fear of Fear  8. Muscle in Plastic  9. The Man with the X-Ray Eyes  10. Mask



It's hard to believe I'd never owned this album before...I knew a lot of the songs from those old"1979-1983" CD compilations that served as my introduction to the band, but I guess I was so smitten with "In the Flat Field," "Stigmata Martyr," and "Double Dare" that I tended to overlook the later material on those comps...

 Despite the fact that some homeless dude in a bottle-tab headdress called me a goth once, I actually discovered Bauhaus as a punk fan...Therefore the more caustic and frenetic first album appeals to me more. But I've got to admit that "Mask" is far more consistent...Every single song is enjoyable,while the first album had shit like "Spy in the Cab" that sorta irritated the shit outta me...So, I can see why this tends to be most people's favorite Bauhaus album...It's a little more atmospheric while being a little bit funkier. I  can imagine that moon-lit booty-shakers like a "Kick in the Eye" and "Muscle in Plastic" really lit up the goth dance clubs back in the day...Although I'm unsure there were enough goths around back then to necessitate a club...I don't even know if there are any goth dance clubs now...

 I dunno, I guess I just always assumed that people who dressed like this were going somewhere...You don't put this stuff just to go rent "The Notebook" at the nearest "Redbox," right? No, I imagine you slap on the greasepaint, tighten your corset and congregate...And since there's such a thing as goth dance music, I imagine these congregated goths would eventually get around to busting a move, so what better album to serve this purpose than Bauhaus' "Mask."  Sisters of Mercy, you say? Get real...

Oh yea, the title track is a masterpiece of pure, evil music...Real Halloween shit...They stop the dancey, bass-noodling and clippy hi-hats and get down to the minimalist, pagan pounding...As you listen to this, you can't help but feel like you're being watched by some malevolent force that's closing in for the kill...File Under Uneasy Listening, I guess...Y'know, I'm still trying to determine if that stringed instrument at the end is a mandolin or just the world's most tightly-strung acoustic guitar...

Forget all the labels, all the posthumous genre classifications forced onto the band and you'll find this is just some good, dark, danceable rock with some creepy ambiance thrown in...The more ominous material sounds great on a stormy night and the more upbeat stuff sounds perfectly at home on a Friday night with a few beers...Hey! That reminds me! Tonight is Friday night! And there's a few cold ones in the fridge! Let's check out some Bauhaus...

Here's "Muscle in Plastic"...Happy Friday!