The Gothic Archies

"I've endured struggling and thuggery, sir
Physical Ed and psychosis
Sculleries, skulls, and skullduggeries, sir
Haplessness, hype and hypnosis" ~"When you Play the Violin"/This Tragic Treasury:Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Gothic Archies Website: http://www.houseoftomorrow.com/gothicarchies.php

The first time I listened to The Gothic Archies, I thought, damn this singer sounds a helluva lot like Stephin Merritt. Then I found out he was Stephin Merritt (of The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths, and Future Bible Heroes) . I've been a big fan of Merritt's work for years now...the dark melancholia behind it, his brilliant lyrics...The Gothic Archies does not disappoint. 

How is this project different from The Magnetic Fields? Well, according to The Gothic Archies website, "What makes this band different from The Magnetic Fields is that any glimmer of hope is absolutely extinguished." Indeed, The Magnetic Fields have produced many songs such as "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" that have optimism despite Merritt's very low, dark voice. "Crows," off of This Tragic Treasury is oddly romantic amongst the other songs but the pace of the song remains slow and sad, as if Merritt lacks faith in the words he is singing. Nick Cave would probably jerk off to this album.

I have to say songs like "Freakshow" are very easy to relate to as I think back to middle school torments and the inherent inescapable awkwardness that marks the teenage years. 

Basically, Merritt is a genius, and I love the exaggerated nihilism that lingers behind every Gothic Archies song. He composed The Tragic Treasury specifically as soundtrack to A Series of Unfortunate Events. Merritt (in the below video interview/performance) claims that  he was on board to do it because on 69 Love Songs the author (Daniel Handler) "Mr. Snicket" played the accordion. Merritt keeps in character-playing a caricature of himself: the gloomy, fatalistic artist.