Romo-Goth? Haven't The Horrors taken those two words and made an entire career out of them? If they haven't, someone should have told them to before earnest Brooklynites Department Of Eagles decided to have a go instead.
There's definitely an element of 'does what it sounds on the tin' about the mad cacophony DOE make - caught somewhere around that brief period in the early '80s when young lads with too much hair suddenly realised they could make a lot of noise with keyboards and Commodore 64s but were so busy playing with their new toys that they forgot to learn anything about music.
To this they've added some saucepan-and-dustbin-lid drumming and a bit of half-hearted New York Dolls screaming. Stupidly enough, it's actually Sailing By Night that sounds more Romo-Goth than its predecessor, coming across like Spandau Ballet filtered through Denim (who, admittedly, were neither Romo nor Goth, before I incur Laurence's wrath).
After being about to write them off as rubbish, they earn themselves a brief respite as I realise that at least they're not boring. At least they're interestingly and differently rubbish, tipping together musical flotsam and jetsam from all over the place and getting something greater than the sum of its parts from what's left. By the final track - a third version of Sailing By Night, this time remixed by Daedelus - it's either the case that they're growing on me or they are in fact quite good after all. Oh bugger it - I've got no idea if they're worthwhile or not. You decide.
