Vision Video exist at a nexus of the universe where the goth kids and weirdos won the popularity contest in high school. The band leans heavily into a 1970’s death rock aesthetic — think Specimen, Christian Death and Alien Sex Fiend — while managing to sound much more like two of their favorite groups, The Chameleons or The Cure.
One bright part of this dark band from Athens, Georgia is that they don’t take themselves too seriously. Founder and resident “Goth Dad” Dusty Gannon has some perspective on darkness: Gannon was an Army rifle platoon leader in Afghanistan and has worked as firefighter and EMT in his day-to-day.
Vision Video don’t mock the feelings of alienated people who might have less real-world exposure to trauma; they welcome all souls into the fold with moody music and a fangy smile. Gannon runs a Tik Tok channel, GothDadsBand, where he gives life tips to “Baby bats” along with make-up tutorials and other black pearls of wisdom. Band merch includes “Goth Dad Eyeshadow Palette” and a 2024 “Goth Dad Thirst Bat Calendar” with Gannon lounging in a coffin in leather-daddy attire. Meow!
Together with keyboardist and singer Emily Fredock, Vision Video make what they call “Dance Music for the End-Times.” They’ve been featured in the immortal horror zine Fangoria and written up in more soberly culture-minded outlets such as The Big Takeover and Pitchfork, and how many bands can say that?
All genres of extreme music have an element of cosplay. But the workplace suit and tie are just as much of a costume as the black lipstick, mascara and fishnets, if not more so. The bands from beneath that dwell in the shadows and score the abyss provide a space to get loose after hours and become the person you really are. That’s the crux of Video Vision’s message: Have fun, dance it up, for tomorrow we might all be gone. It’s a refreshing POV on doom in our dour world.
Vision Video, Tears for the Dying and Violet Silhouette play 7pm Friday, March 1 at Respectable Street in Wets Palm Beach. visionvideoband.com.~ Tim Moffatt
