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Danceable Doom: Sisters Of Mercy

© Jason C. Reeher

"I am not a goth," Andrew Eldritch once stated. While that is debatable - Eldritch's band, Sisters Of Mercy, was a prime export of the U.K. Batcave movement in the early 1980's - no one doubts that the Sisters were much different from your average gothic rock band. Purveyors of danceable doom, Eldritch and company took dark sentiments and plastered them against inviting dance grooves. The resulting mix is extremely accessible, and makes the Sisters' records from the post-punk era highly recommended.

While all of the original Elektra records releases are solid, there is a particular compilation that can get the neophyte initiated. Subtitled "A Slight Case Of Overbombing," the Sisters' Greatest Hits, Volume 1 is not your normal best-of package. Rather, Eldritch allowed extra production by folks like Jim Steinman - to excellent effect. If the original album versions of tracks like "Detonation Boulevard" and "Lucretia My Reflection" were compelling, the knob twiddling here makes them even more stellar; extended versions of many of the singles only showcase the infectious nature of the music.

These are not the 'original' Sisters of Mercy, but to many indie radio fans, they may as well be. Players on the tracks include guitarist Wayne Hussey (later of the Mission), former Gun Club bassist Patricia Morrison, and a host of sidemen. (The original band was Eldritich, guitar player Gary Marx, and a drum machine, plus sidemen for live gigs; for an overview of that phase of the band, pick up Some Girls Wander By Mistake, which compiles the singles from 1980-83.) Eldritch may not have been much for stability, but he made up for it in ingenuity.

Greatest Hits is terrific from start to finish. In roughly reverse chronological order, these songs jump out at the listener, introducing Eldritch's cathartic (if limited) bass vocals and the group's willingness to ride a groove. Enlisting the immortal Ofra Haza for backing vocals on an extended "Temple of Love" is genius, and exemplifies Eldritch's ability to enrich the dark dance tones with new levels of depth. Elsewhere, "Vision Thing" is even more threatening and immediate than on the LP of the same name (complete with some creepy added backward lyrics), while "Detonation Boulevard" sounds like the Stones might if Keith and Mick suddenly overdose on Bowie's "Berlin-era" recordings.

One of the crowning moments of this remarkable album, however, is "Doctor Jeep," which in its original form on the Vision Thing LP was a bit flat. Here it takes on a majesty, as the producers spotlight Hussey's brief, pristine keyboard interludes to contrast the stream-of-bizarreness lyrics. Other highlights are "Lucretia My Reflection," full of tension and loathing, and "This Corrosion," with its "hey now / hey now, now" refrain and almost playful tone. Critics say that dance music is overproduced; while that charge is well-justified most of the time, Sisters Of Mercy used production to invite the listener into the dark arenas that ultimately ground the band in accessibility and - pleasantly shocking for a gothic band - even warmth.

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