Goth Rock: Rasputina
On its sixth full-length album, Oh Perilous World, Rasputina stays true to its gothic rock roots - remember the haunting, sing-along cover of “You Don’t Own Me?” on 1998’s How We Quit the Forest? - but also examines some of the world’s most momentous events in the past few years.
Singer and lead cellist Melora Creager, who formed the chamber rock group in the ’90s, says her addiction to reading the daily news gave her plenty to write about for this latest effort.
“I definitely became obsessed with the news,” Creager says, chatting with me from the Colorado home of bandmate Sarah Bowman’s sister. “I have yet to let it go. I felt like I found out a lot of things all at once. It was, ‘Oh my gosh, climate change and the war in Iraq.’ (It was almost like) some type of puzzle, and if I figured it all out at once, I could figure out the universe. I like that impossible question.”
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Creager’s songs draw you into a whole new world. The tunes on the new disc have Rasputina’s trademark dark, eerie and beautiful allure, but the sounds here are more intense than usual. You’ll be amazed by some of the noises that Creager and Bowman can get out of their cellos, which often sound more heavy metal than chamber orchestra.
THE FASHION, THE FANS
Rasputina’s immense creativity is most evident in its music, but it’s hard to ignore the costumes. From the very beginning, Creager envisioned elaborate costuming, with strict “Victorian whites”-only rules. Over time, the bloomers, hoop skirts and corsets have evolved into an array of historical female archetypes.
“When we started it was a very specific idea and we got into the rules - only white, Victorian underwear,” Creager says. “It was just a concept to add to the visuals. But as time has passed, and as we know more who we are, now lots of different things can fit into the costume vocabulary. Now we try to be … iconic - any kind of icon you can (imagine), whether it’s medieval, a cowboy, etc. But we’ve avoided the saloon girl - that (idea) can come out, but I never want it to be slutty.”
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- Source: Kari Wethington, CIN Weekly, Aug. 1, 2007
