Favorite Bands You Might Not Know #7 - The Wake

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We are at #7 in my Favorite Bands You Might Not Know series, a slot held by 2nd generation goth band The Wake. The Wake, led by vocalist Troy Payne and guitarist Richard Witherspoon, formed in Columbus, Ohio, in 1986, and despite personnel changes and a lengthy (eight years) hiatus, are still at it. They have appeared on over 30 compilation albums, and own their own independent record label, Blaylox Records (named after the band's cat.) I found The Wake while reading a goth music magazine back in the 90's. In their new bands section, they described The Wake as a cross between The Sisters of Mercy and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, which intrigued the hell out of me. And they are, in many respects, a very aggressive Sisters/RLYL mix. Even though they formed in 1986 (goth legends The Mission formed the same year, and they are definitely 1st generation,) I consider The Wake a 2nd generation band simply because they didn't burst onto the scene until the early 1990's. I do think they are the best of the 2nd generation bands (Rosetta Stone and Children on Stun also qualify for that conversation.) Payne has the goth requisite deep voice without going out of his way to ape Sisters vocalist Andrew Eldritch, and Witherspoon has a unique guitar style, an aggressive, in your face style that still sounds goth. I've seen them. They put on a great, energetic, liquid smoke-shrouded show that quite impressed me. The Wake has opened for the likes of Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Christian Death, and oddly, the decidedly non-goth Innocence Mission (I've also seen The Innocence Mission. Good band, both live and on record, but The Wake would have blown them off the stage.) I had to do a three way coin flip between my three favorite Wake songs. The winner is linked below. (Info verified by Wikipedia)