Recorded over 18 days, Go Away White is Goth-Rock pioneers Bauhaus' first studio release in 25 years. Some of you may recall that their 1983 (now, not so much) swansong Burning From the Inside was not an album made on the best of terms. Lead vocalist Peter Murphy suffered from a life-threatening bout of pneumonia at that time which required guitarist Daniel Ash, bassist David J and drummer Kevin Haskins to create over half that album themselves vocally. When Murphy returned to the fold healthy, he decided that he no longer wanted to be a part of the band and ended up quitting to create his own solo career. Don't feel bad for the other three though. You may remember a little band involving all three of them called Love & Rockets? Yeah, they did alright for themselves last time I checked. Yet over the last decade, these four souls have found each other at times for incredibly successful reunion tours. The first was in 1998, which spawned the double live album Gotham. And the second saw them co-headlining the 2005 Coachella festival and scoring the opening slot for Nine Inch Nails' world tour that year. All seemed to be going well leading them to this moment of recording a new record, but somewhere in those 18 days of recording, old arguments flared up and once again Bauhaus are no more. The band is keeping mum on what led to yet another break-up, but since Love & Rockets are slated to be a co-headliner at this years Coachella festival, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Peter Murphy's huge ego once again had something to do with Bauhaus latest demise.

That last line segues perfectly into my review of Going Away White, Peter Murphy's…uh…I mean Bauhaus' new album. I crack that joke because Go Away White suffers from Peter Murphy hijacking these proceedings more often than not. "Saved" and "Mirror Remains" sound like they could have come right off of Murphy's last two solo albums and "Undone" is an absolute mess of out of tune slop. But there are a few moments on Go Away White where Bauhaus as a collective get it right. "Adrenalin" proves that Murphy can still apply that blood curdling scream to perfection when he wants to and "Endless Summer of the Damned" is the most menacing sounding song of the bunch with Haskins pounding those skins, David J strumming a dark as night bass line and Ash screeching those guitar riffs just right.

Is Go Away White finally the perfect swansong that Bauhaus fans have been hoping for - and the title suggests? Unfortunately because of its unevenness, no it isn't. But some cautious words of wisdom: you'd better enjoy what's good here because I have that nagging suspicion that this is without a doubt the last time we'll hear these four masters of their craft working together and that really is too bad. Unless, of course history repeats itself and we get another Tones on Tale record.