DS Album Review: Gossip Collar Return To The Living With New Album Eaten Of Worms

Hello again, dear readers. Now that the heat of summer is dying down and the leaves are beginning to turn, the spooky season is upon us and with it comes a slew of new creepy cool music. As Dying Scene’s resident spooky boy, I am here to guide you toward the best new sounds in dark and gloomy punk rock! What better place to start than with a brand new album from Boston’s own dark punk royalty, Gossip Collar.

Gossip Collar, made up of members of Boston punk legends The Showcase Showdown and Secret Hearts, began writing during the dreaded pandemic of 2020, building up a cache of brilliantly dark and atmospheric post-punk songs long before anyone even knew the group existed. Singer-Songwriter Victoria and drummer Megan worked for years on the collection before adding the vital missing pieces in guitarist Tom and bassist Mark. The group made their live debut in 2023, and soon after began releasing their secret sonic gold beginning with their self titled ep, followed by the incredible debut full length album Spinning Silk For Parasites in 2024.

Now, two years later we are blessed with the eagerly anticipated follow up, Eaten Of Worms. If you are a fan of dark wave and postpunk in the vein of The March Violets or Skeletal Family, there is plenty here to sink your fangs into. From the opening feedback of the first track “Disguise My Heart” through to the phased out reverb soaked dreamscape of closer “Merchants of the Wave”, the listener is taken on a journey through a cold terrain, warmed only by sparse bright leads that float above jagged beds of sharp guitars and drums that shift expertly from tribal stomps to pulsating dance beats in a matter befitting the 80’s London Batcave scene. Vocalist Victoria practically whispers her dark poetry in a doubled delivery drenched in reverb and dripping with a palpable sense of anxiety and dread. 

While the guitars do the majority of the heavy lifting in terms of atmosphere, there are beautiful and haunting bits of synth and keys scattered throughout the record that fill in the sound and add color brilliantly, such as the creepy toy piano sounds in “Haerisis” that add a sort of dark nostalgic feel, like something out of a childhood nightmare. “Dead Thing” veers deeper into death rock territory with chugging guitars and synth beds that would fit right in on a 45 Grave album and eases into “Why Me?”, which opens with a soundscape that could have been pulled straight out of some imagined lost Hitchcock film and only becomes more unsettling as the the song progresses through a stomping groove and staccato strings reminiscent of a certain classic 60’s film score.

Overall, Eaten of Worms is a beautiful progression for Gossip Collar, and one that I’m sure will entice new followers while giving existing fans a brand new treasure trove of dark wave and death rock delights to drool over. The album is being distributed via Bat-Cave Productions out of Poland and will be available through the band’s Bandcamp on September 4th.