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Stompcrash is a word which emanated from visuals depicting the sound of a car crashing in a comic strip, but The Stompcrash refer to it as “walking with a loud noise” – courtesy Christian, The Stompcrash.
The mystique behind The Stompcrash’s “requiem rosa” began with the creation of a (imaginary) poet/lyricist and his accompanying site allowing access to his work. One sends an email to the web site called “requiem rosa”, thereby receiving a secret word which then gains one access to his work. Only the vocals are available. You download the lyrics and add music to your unique liking. Every time new music is attached to the same lyrics, they are reborn so to speak. “In this lost place were buried some gloomy and strange vocal lines waiting to someone that give’em new life…” – http:// www.requiemrosa.com/.
“Most of our lyrics are based on gothic stories, tales about love and death and we take inspiration from writers like Lovecraft, E.A. Poe, Dick, we research melodies and atmospheres to give special emphasis to every story we want to tell. Our aim is to catch all the energies and emotions we feel and put them in our songs, so that we hope that (those) who listen to us could share, at least, a little of what we feel.” – courtesy of The Stompcrash
The best way to sum up the sound of The Stompcrash’s album “requiem rosa” is a marriage between old school Gothic rock and 80s new wave. The music is on the one hand moody and melancholic, and on the other, a steady up beat with tremendous club play potential.
The Stompcrash attributes their musical influences to such bands as Clan of Xymox, 69 Eyes, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of Mercy, and Love Like Blood. I also liken the band’s sound to that of Nosferatu (the long time British Goth band). Chris’ vocals, which contribute to the Gothic rock aspect of the band’s sound, are in the vein of those of Ronny Moorings of Clan of Xymox, Jyrki 69 of 69 Eyes, and to a certain degree Andrew Eldritch of Sisters of Mercy. I will even go so far as to say that he reminds me a bit of Mik’s vocals of the Gothic band So Cold from Trieste, Italy. Dany’s vocals, which contribute more to the new wave aspect of the sound, remind me of Siouxsie of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson of The B52s, and a bit more tempered Lene Lovitch (sans the high octave extremes). The play between the male and female vocals, song stanzas and chorus throughout, remind me of the vocal interactions between Fred Schneider and Cindy Wilson of the B52s.
However, what strikes me the most about this band is the mystery they developed around their lyrics, their ingeniousness in creating a web site where people could virtually make their own “custom song”, and in their storytelling. For example, the song Dorian (which is both my favorite song on the album and my favorite gothic story as well) is based on the story of a famous Irish writer and poet (can you guess?). Wake Up in a Grave is based on the short story of a famous gothic American writer and poet (can you guess?). Of course the pièce de la résistance is in Dany’s sometimes organ-like keyboards. A certain type of keyboard style seems to be my new music fetish, lol. Nothing like particular keyboard/organ sounds to remind one of gothic architecture/cathedrals, horror movies, “gods and monsters”and so on. I don’t want to spoil the fun in this album by divulging the authors and their stories behind the songs. I suggest checking out songs from the album on The Stompcrash’s myspace and even going so far to purchase the album. It’s fun, clever stuff, and worth adding to Goth/80s new wave, club dj sets.
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To learn more about The Stompcrash, please visit:
www.myspace.com/stompcrash
© Gothic Goddess Media 2008