Forty-plus years in music can see entire genres and scenes be born, reach fruition, gain mainstream success and then retreat back into obscurity or, rarely, disappear entirely. It’s also a period of time in which you’d expect a legendary band to release a healthy sum of studio albums to maintain their status in a devoted scene.

However, for The March Violets, who started out at the beginning of goth in 1981, that wasn’t entirely the case, and the legendary group have remained highly elusive in the studio albums department. It is true that the number of releases from a band does not determine their aptitudes, but when the band treat it like such a rarity, one’s standards would be understandably high.

Having never been a huge fan of MV’s work as they’ve never featured much in my goth playlists over the years, I gave their third album, Crocodile Promises (first since 2015) a listen with an open mind. In short, there was everything one would expect from a traditional gothic rock outfit: ghostly romantic vocals, confessional/emotional lyrics, darkly psychedelic guitars and a drum machine giving a dance-style beat.

But despite having everything you’d expect from such a band, there was the problem of it falling into the “average” area, which any recording artist can enter. And this sadly is where Crocodile Promises found itself in the mind of this music critic.

Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing awful about this album, but I cannot say there was anything that leapt out at me or appeared original. Sure, MV have most likely found their niche and are sticking to it as it’s what gave them their career, but I cannot say it made my spine tingle. This is most likely due to personal tastes changing as time goes on, but I still don’t think MV are a band I’d have in my trad goth playlists any time soon.

For the keen MV fans reading this, you won’t be disappointed as everything they are renowned for is here, but my review can only go as far as saying it’s the same as any other, and therefore safe for a devoted goth rock collector to add to their collection.

Give this one a whirl if you love all MV have done but if you’re new to their work, try some of their older releases first.

(6/10 Demitri Levantis)

https://www.facebook.com/marchvioletsband

https://marchvioletsband.bandcamp.com/album/crocodile-promises