Rasputina a cello rock / Dark Cabaret band from Brooklyn, New York that was formed in 1992 and is fronted by Melora Creager. Their (rather dark) lyrics are often related to the Victorian era.
Current Line-up:
- Melora Creager
- Daniel DeJesus
- Dawn Miceli
Studio Albums:
- Thanks for the Ether (1996)
- How We Quit the Forest (1998)
- Cabin Fever (2002)
- Frustration Plantation (2004)
- Oh, Perilous World (2007)
- Sister Kinderhook (2010)
- Unknown (2015)
Rasputina provides examples of:
- And Your Reward Is Infancy/Raise Him Right This Time: One interpretation of "A Quitter". The first part of the song is a dirgelike number about someone Driven to Suicide. This is followed by a few seconds of silence and a weird lullaby, suggesting that the person has been returned to the start of their life cycle for a fresh start.
- Anti-War Album: Oh, Perilous World.
- Baroque Pop
- Blatant Lies: "Our Lies" exemplifies this trope, with the singer variously claiming that she was never conceived, the bones in her face weren't there all along, and that she loves your coffee cake.
- Concept Album: "Oh, Perilous World. Unknown'' is also a concept album dealing with Melora Creager's real life encounter with a stalker.
- Creepy Doll: "Gingerbread Coffin."
- Goodbye, Cruel World!: "A Quitter." The title has a double meaning in French, which phonetically translates to "has left."
- I Am the Band: Rasputina is Melora Creager.
- I Was Quite a Looker: The title character of "Remnants of Percy Bass," a former leading man who has grown sickly and decrepit.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Inverted with their appropriately dark and foreboding cover of "Bad Moon Rising," Creedence Clearwater Revival's peppy song about impending doom.
- Nightmare Fetishist: A good number of their songs treat dark subject matter, but most aren't treated in this fashion. However, the glee that is expressed at the idea of pumping holy water into the anus of a possessed man in "Christian Soldiers" and at the idea of cannibalism among the Donner Party and colonial Pilgrims in "The Donner Party" do delve into this territory.
- No Party Like a Donner Party: "The Donner Party."
- Of Corsets Sexy: Rasputina and their fans tend to favor the corset.
- Orphanage of Fear: "My Orphanage."
- Pun-Based Title: "Dwarf Star" is a pun on the celestial body.
- He said he was a dwarfstar'Cause he was smallAnd he was… Famous
- Revolving Door Band: After going through innumerable line-up changes, some of which lasted for several years at a time, founder Melora Creager is the only original member left and the only member to appear on every album. Some members even return to work with Melora on side projects after they've officially left the band.
- Steampunk
- Überwald: The subject matter of "Transylvanian Concubine."
- Victorian London: They use imagery from this period in their songs, and their website even claims that the band was created in 1891.
- Wild Child: "Snow Hen of Austerlitz."
