{"id":2102,"date":"2025-03-12T15:44:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T06:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/?p=2102"},"modified":"2025-04-01T09:27:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T00:27:53","slug":"the-essence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/03\/12\/the-essence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Essence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This is a Dutch band called The Essence. Just as bands like Camouflage and Cause &amp; Effect were like, &#8220;Shut up, we don&#8217;t sound like Depeche Mode! Depeche Mode sounds like us, so shut up or else!&#8221;, The Essence shares the same relationship with The Cure. If you didn&#8217;t know any better, you would have sworn that this is Robert Smith while listening. So listen to this or else you&#8217;re just not cool anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Cat&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Essence - The Cat (Music Video)\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o3msi5AmAJg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Only for You&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Essence - Only For You (Official Video)\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3utlsSbVSzs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Mirage&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Essence - Mirage (Official Video)\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DTLpkgKQIbE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The band isn&#8217;t a total ripoff, and the music is not derivative. No plagiarism, just similarity. The music is more post-punk than goth. Maybe a bit of a Creation Records feel to the music? And it&#8217;s not like the singer is doing the whole Robert Smith eye makeup thing either. I obtained their first album as mp3 format and burned it onto a CD to listen to in the car. I&#8217;ve been listening to it over and over for the past several days and I really like it a lot. It&#8217;s as if I&#8217;ve discovered some Cure albums I&#8217;d never heard before. I first discovered this band about a year ago as it showed up as a YouTube algorithm suggestion and I wish I had known this band 30+ years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a Dutch band called The Essence. Just as bands like Camouflage and Cause &amp; Effect were like, &#8220;Shut up, we don&#8217;t sound like Depeche Mode! Depeche Mode sounds like us, so shut up or else!&#8221;, The Essence shares the same relationship with The Cure. If you didn&#8217;t know any better, you would have &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/03\/12\/the-essence\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The Essence&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[140,258],"class_list":["post-2102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-the-cure","tag-the-essence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1316,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2024\/01\/10\/lovesong-by-the-cure\/","url_meta":{"origin":2102,"position":0},"title":"&#8220;Lovesong&#8221; by The Cure","date":"2024-01-10","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hXCKLJGLENs I'd sing my precious little daughter to sleep every night with this song when she was a toddler. Now she is 15, and she still remembers me singing this to her. However far away, I will always love you. However long I stay, I will always love you. Whatever\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;music&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/hXCKLJGLENs\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1319,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2024\/02\/06\/a-playlist-to-re-create-the-kukq-1060am-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":2102,"position":1},"title":"A playlist to re-create the KUKQ 1060AM experience","date":"2024-02-06","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been on a retro music odyssey for the past month and a half, going back to so much of the music I loved in high school. I've bought CDs from R.E.M., The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Tears for Fears, and Echo & The Bunnymen. I've already gushed about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;music&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kukq-sticker.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2306,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/06\/24\/iran-north-korea-the-same-pattern-is-used-to-control-normies\/","url_meta":{"origin":2102,"position":2},"title":"Iran, North Korea&#8230; the same pattern is used to control normies.","date":"2025-06-24","format":false,"excerpt":"\"OMG, Iran is just weeks away from having a nuclear bomb! Be scared!\" Nutty-Yahoo has been saying this since the '90s. So has all of the Zionist Neocons in the US government who get plenty of funding from AIPAC. All they want to do is imbue a spirit of fear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;humor&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Far-Side-floating-head-of-death-Iran.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2002,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/neon-inferno-retro-style-game-on-steam\/","url_meta":{"origin":2102,"position":3},"title":"Neon Inferno, a new retro-style game on Steam!","date":"2025-02-12","format":false,"excerpt":"Holy crap, this game is beautiful. Featuring gorgeous pixel art with a configurable CRT shader, this game is a cross between Metal Slug and Wild Guns. This is a neo-retro game by Zenovia Interactive, who also made Steel Assault. Here's the title screen. So beautiful. The music at the title\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;video games&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Neon-Inferno.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1985,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2025\/01\/30\/monday-morning-windows-10-blues\/","url_meta":{"origin":2102,"position":4},"title":"Monday morning Windows 10 blues","date":"2025-01-30","format":false,"excerpt":"So coming into work Monday morning, I had to put up with this gay crap. The laptop had installed an update Friday evening when I left, then when I turned it on again it wasted more time. The computer couldn't be used for nearly 20 minutes. Let me guess: Windows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;tech&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/KIMG2476-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":311,"url":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/2022\/07\/07\/infinos-gaiden-a-fantastic-shmup-that-would-be-at-home-on-the-sega-saturn\/","url_meta":{"origin":2102,"position":5},"title":"Infinos Gaiden: a fantastic shmup that would be at home on the Sega Saturn","date":"2022-07-07","format":false,"excerpt":"I picked up Infinos Gaiden via Steam's summer sale. This is a fantastic game, reminiscent of Thunder Force and other 16-32 bit shmups. Via the Proton utility, this works perfectly on my Linux desktop. Not only does fullscreen mode work fine, but this game supports a 4:3 aspect ratio, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;video games&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/20220707182555_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2102"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2113,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2102\/revisions\/2113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevethefish.net\/stuff\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}