Gothic rock (also referred to as goth rock or simply goth) is a musical subgenre of post-punk that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes. According to both Pitchfork and NME, protogoth bands are Joy Division,Siouxsie and the Banshees,Bauhaus and The Cure. The genre itself was defined as a separate movement from punk rock during the early 1980s largely due to the significant stylistic divergences of the movement; gothic rock, as opposed to punk, combines dark, often keyboard-heavy music with introspective and depressing lyrics. Gothic rock then gave rise to a broader subculture that included clubs, fashion and numerous publications that grew in popularity in the 1980s.

According to music journalist Simon Reynolds, standard musical fixtures of the Gothic rock include "scything guitar patterns, high-pitched Joy Division basslines that often usurped the melodic role; [and] beats that were either hypnotically dirgelike or 'tribal'". Reynolds described the vocal style as consisting of "deep, droning alloys of Jim Morrison and Leonard Cohen". Siouxsie and the Banshees tended to play the flanging guitar effect, producing a brittle, cold, and harsh sound that contrasted with their psychedelic rock predecessors. Several acts used drum machines that do not stress the back beat in the rhythm.