It’s an understandable enough conclusion to simply say that Bauhaus’s debut album in the wake of ”Bela Lugosi’s Dead“ was the foundation of goth, and certainly everything about it helped codify a wide range of approaches. But the elements of glam and crisp funk that fed into its creation, as well as the lingering impact it had on any number of punk and emo bands whose members weren’t even born yet, underscores just how volcanic, extreme but still insanely catchy In the Flat Field was and is.

– Ned Raggett