In the U.S., Siouxsie and the Banshees didn’t expand their
audience beyond a small cult of artfully manicured creatures until the CD era,
so copies of their vinyl releases have always been few on these shores. Even
when their work was being reissued on UK wax in recent years, they were still
being passed over in America. Fortunately this irritating wrong is now being
righted, and considering the unenthused fan reaction to older UK vinyl reissues
and the excellent sound of these new transatlantic ones, the wait was worth it.
There will be several waves in Universal’s reissue campaign,
and the first finds Join Hands, Juju, Tinderbox, and Through the
Looking Glass creeping out on 180-gram vinyl. Mastered at Abbey Road and
pressed at Germany’s Optimal Media, the albums sound dynamic, expansive, and marvelously
detailed. Percussion slices out of the bridge of “Candy Man”. “Halloween” is a
juggernaut. Through the Looking Glass
eases into a new warmth and Join Hands
is no longer unyieldingly flat. Budgie’s drumming sounds true throughout,
whether falling down the stairs on “Spellbound” or ramming you to the dance
floor on “Cities in Dust”.
The discs are thoughtfully packaged with crisp artwork. The
vinyl is stored in poly-lined paper sleeves, though repros of the less
forgiving all-paper inner sleeves are included as well.
As for the albums themselves, this first batch is a
career-spanning mix. The group is at their most punishing with Join Hands, though that controversial
studio version of “The Lord’s Prayer” does reveal an atypical amount of humor
with its quotes from “Twists and Shout”, swipes at Dylan, and Siouxsie’s bizarre
yodeling and chicken clucking. It’s still fourteen minutes of filler, as is a
creepy lark in which Siouxsie sings along with a music box, but the line up on
Side A contradicts the album’s usual sophomore slump rep. “Icons” is an
underrated early classic of foreboding pomp and circumstance.
The undisputed best album in this bunch, Juju, finds the Banshees in transition
between their more difficult early era and the more radio-friendly one to come.
It boasts two of the groups’ most infectious singles but also nasty fare such as
“Halloween”, “Head Cut”, “Sin in My Heart”, and “Voodoo Dolly”. “Into the
Light” is an early example of the Banshees’s ability to achieve breath-taking
beauty.
Tinderbox is full-on
pop, and it’s incredible that the band who’d once caterwauled their way through
“The Lord’s Prayer” could now deliver such sugary delectables as “Candy Man”, “The
Sweetest Chill”, and the irresistible “Cities in Dust”. Of course, in words and
atmosphere, Siouxsie and the boys were still very much in the shadows.
Through the Looking
Glass is one of those time-filling covers albums, but Siouxsie and the
Banshees make even this kind of disposable disc an essential occupant of their
discography with lush arrangements of classics by Iggy Pop, The Doors, Roxy Music,
Billie Holiday, the snake from The Jungle Book, and of all people, Dylan (Siouxsie
was allegedly horrified when she discovered who’d written that old Julie
Driscoll hit). Looking Glass boasts
some of the best use of harp on a pop album, but with choices such as
Television’s “Littly Johnny Jewel” and John Cale’s towering “Gun”, the band
also relocate a bit of their punk fury. Along with Bowie’s Pin Ups, Through the Looking
Glass is the only covers album worth a damn.
Stay tuned for the line up of The Scream, Kiss in the Dream
House, and Superstition (rumored
to be a double-disc) next month.
