Bauhaus

Bauhaus may have godfathered goth at the end of the 1970s, but their combustive early dance singles like "Kick in the Eye" could give most current disco-rock trendies a smackdown. For their first studio disc in 25 years, the English quartet flit from riff-fueled social criticism to anguished balladry, often sounding more like a cross between singer Peter Murphy's brooding solo efforts and splinter group Love and Rockets' buzzing groove rock than the dubbed-up glampunk band that birthed both. Yet even a tastefully matured Bauhaus produce enough fractured guitar and howling melodrama to wake the undead.

By Barry Walters