Ah, steampunk, that beautiful combination of gadgetry and neo-Victorian graces in a world that might have been, but never was. It’s a fascinating subculture, with complexity and detail that serve as a draw not just to Sci-Fi fans, but to artists and DIYers as well. It seems to have an anchor in practically everything from art to fashion, literature, music and more.
Honestly, many steampunk enthusiasts are too picky about what is and isn’t steampunk. For example: steam and clockwork are the bread and butter of the genre, but when you start making things run via internal combustion via gasoline, some fans declare that you’ve trespassed into the territory of dieselpunk. There are many categories, however, and once boiled down to it’s base elements, it all has a home under he steampunk label.
Today, I want to focus on the music of Steampunk. I think a great place to start would be one of my favorite groups of all time, Abney Park.
Abney Park
I first heard their music at a Renaissance fair in Florence, Alabama back in 2009. Most of the time, I don’t pay much attention to background music, but when I heard something about ‘airship pirates’, they automatically had my attention. On the way home that night, I looked the song up on my phone, and from there the band. I was instantly hooked in by this beautiful blend of industrial, gothic, and so much more.
They also hold claim to one of my favorite in-song monologues ever:
“Gentlemen, this fallen angel is the illegitimate daughter of art and science. A modern marvel of engineering, clockworks elevated to the very natural process which even now is in your blood, racing, your eyes flashing at such irreproachable beauty. Here is Gaia, here is Eve, here is Lilith, and I stand before you as her father. Sprung fully-formed from my brow, dewy and sweet; she can be yours and yours again, for her flesh is the incorruptible pale to be excused from the wages of sin.”
– Abney Park, “Herr Drosselmeyer’s Doll”
Abney Park doesn’t do an incredible amount of touring to my knowledge, but I’m on the lookout. Perhaps they’ll board their airship Ophelia and steer her through the æther for a location closer to the southeast United States. I desperately hope I have a chance to see them live in concert one day. It’s on my bucket list
Dr. Steel
His retirement was very saddening news to me, but I’m sure that no one took the news harder than his Army of Toy Soldiers, a group dedicated to the promotion of the good doctor and his ideals. They’ve carried on in his absence, and changed their focus from promoting their creator to promoting the philosophy he presented, such as the importance of creativity and building one’s own Utopian Playland. I’m not a member personally, but I support them and their cause. Check them out if you have the chance. They’re some really awesome people, and virtually anyone can join.
“Dr. Steel, we barely knew ye. Come back to us?”
Nash, host of Radio Dead Air
Caravan Palace
Techincally, Caravan Palace is not steampunk; rather, the France-based band classifies themselves as “Electro Swing” — but you listen to them for 5 minutes and tell me it doesn’t have a steampunk-image inducing feel to it.
So there you have it, guys. Three of my favorite steampunk(-ish) music groups of all time. Keep in mind, it’s not that I hate the other groups, these are just the ones I listen regularly to. In fact, there are many, many more out there that I would encourage you to check out for yourselves. For example:
…the list goes on. Feel free to discuss your favorites in the comments!
Until next time, it’s been a pleasure. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go party like it’s 1899.
P.S. For anyone wondering why I didn’t include Voltaire in this list, well… He’s more of ‘gothic’ than ‘steampunk’ in my oppinion. I love his music and all it’s quirks, but I’m saving him for a later discussion.
