I have been waiting to hear the new AFI album before tackling this topic. My reasoning being that AFI were formerly the most obvious Mifits tribute band but it now appears that Davey and company prefer to pay tribute to The Cure with their new material. This is hardly a massive departure though given they covered 'Hanging garden' on the A Fire Inside EP.
Davey has openly and repeatedly admired The Cure, Danzig, Orbital and Oasis. Thankfully the influence of the latter two is less apparent in AFI's work. Some lazy music journalists have labled AFI as "The Cure meets the Misfits" or "hardcore with eyeliner" and while these descriptions might be unoriginal they are less cringeworthy than the new label, "Gothcore." Gothcore is an amalgamation of goth and hardcore punk. By this logic, and to utilise the example provided by Metal Hammer magazine, if you cross Bad Religion with Misfits then AFI would be the end result. While this may be true (if you accept the dubious premise that Bad Religion are hardcore) it seems oversymplistic to define a band by its predesessors.
I am not denying the influence of the Misfits, it is apparent that the first five AFI albums all have noticable Misfits influences, most notably 'Shut your mouth and open your eyes', and Davey has said that AFI would not exist if it was not for the Misfits, but claiming that X band is the new Y band is cliched beyond believe, and a trap that the UK music press embrace. When Metal Hammer describe AFI as "post-Misfits schlock-horror shtick" and the fans as "Gen X-ers" I feel patronised and very old. Also the previous statements from the magazine are more accurate than their assertion that with Sing the Sorrow AFI are becoming "simply a rock'n'roll band."
The Son of Sam album was one of Davey's happiest memories as he actually got to work with Glenn Danzig. The statement that Son of Sam were "the first Gothcore supergroup" is horrific, and reminds me why I don't buy or read Metal Hammer through choice. Danzig's influence on Davey is obvious from the hair alone but since the Art of Drowing Davey's hair has been doing the opposite of Brian from Placebo with equally horrific results.
The Murderdolls are now the most dominant Misfits tribute band, in every UK interview they namecheck Danzig and the Misfits. Pictures in both Rock Sound and Metal Hammer various members wore AFI and Misfits t-shirts, as this months Metal Hammer demonstrates. While Danzig and the Misfits were the main focus of the Murderdolls input into the interview AFI got meantioned significantly more than Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13, which is odd given they are Wednesday's previous band. Apparently their fellow Misfits tribute band having more influence than the band where Wednesday cut his teeth. Musically the Murderdolls songs 'Dead in Hollywood' and 'Let's go to war' clearly pay homage to Danzig era Misfits. Image-wise they look like a bunch of badly gothed-up drag queens.
After Danzig left, the Misfits took a slight sidetrack, as can be heard on comparision of Famous Monsters to anything with Danzig. The new Misfits vocalist looks considerably younger to the other band members, the fact that only one of those members was actually in the original Misfits makes the continuation of the name rather misleading.
The obvious influence of Danzig on both AFI and the Murderdolls meant that the music press meantioned Danzig alongside 'flavour of the month' bands This ensured that his solo career lasted another year, a blessing lest he decides to make a living out of cartoon appearences and comic books. It has also ensured that on his latest videos he can pay scantily-clad young women to take notice of him.
Danzig's latest solo album has probably benefited from the aditional publicity. Virgin and HMV both placed the album prominently in their stores. With HMV even offering a "free chart sample CD" with every purchase, an offer usually restricted to mainstream CDs.
The Misfits are always going to be considered the founders of goth punk, with AFI and the Murderdolls living in their shadow. Then again living in the Misfits' shadow is probably more flattering than being called a cross between Marilyn Manson and Ian Astbury (The Cult), despite this being intended as a complement.
