Placebo: Alexandra Palace, London
Sophie Heawood, The Guardian, 15 April 2006
WHEN PLACEBO FIRST HIT THE CHARTS in the mid-1990s, Brian Molko's thick black eyeliner and androgynous posturing caused a bit of a stir, as much for being naff as for being genuinely shocking. A decade on, Topshop has announced that its new range is all about goth, while the media is saturated with stories about goth nightclubs, goth vicars and goths cutting up their arms. Molko now comes across as an elder statesman of this scene — and, compared with all the new panda-eyed emo bands, his music sounds rather accomplished.
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