Sometime before the moniker of goth was imposed on UK punks who were summoning darker sounds through scythe-like guitar riffs, the kind music was ironically called Positive-punk. Across the Atlantic 35 years later Brooklyn goth-punks Pawns, definitely meets the criteria of this humourous label—and their debut LP, The Gallows. is out now Mass Media Records and Nothing But A Nightmare Records.
According to an interview with Cvltnation Gallows was recorded in “a beautiful desanctified church in Hudson, NY,” with the recording occurring in the chapel with band sleeping on the mezzanine.
Pawns take their name from man’s futility against a deterministic universe and a love of Sartrean philosophy. The album’s cover is evocative of this theme—highlighting a solider amidst a collage of dark imagery.
Listen to Gallows below, and pick up the highly reccomended LP now
