The Scream, Join Hands,
Kaleidoscope, Juju, A Kiss In The Dreamhouse, Nocturne, Once Upon A Time (Polydor
CD reisuues)
It's not until they're all heaped in
front of you that you suddenly realise just how many Siouxsie And The
Banshees LPs you've let drift past you over the years.
Once upon a time, common with most
of the leading late '70s punk outfits, the release of a Banshees LP was
something of an event. There was a genuine excitement when 'The
Scream' came out, even 'Join Hands'. It was as if these little bits
of plastic would have a profound effect on the rest of your life.
Then, as their career got to them
their LPs came and went, singles charted and flopped - and it wasn't a
matter of life and death anymore. It wasn't growing up, it was The
Banshees winding down.
Yet, even though they've curled up
with the Record Business, you can see from this silverware that their time
together has been justified.
'The Scream' is still a wonderfully
chilling and spikey album. The last of the great punk bands to make
their debut, The Banshees came along with an LP that even upturned some of
punk's rules (with tender sounding spitefulness rather than yobbish
vengeance).
With its sparseness, its tetchy
guitar and its jagged edges, 'The Scream' has, miraculously, stood the
test of time, fulfilling, 11 years on all the praise they (and it) had
thrust upon them at the time. With 'Jigsaw Feeling', 'Overground'
and 'Helter Skelter' The Banshees were making brave pop songs with a sense
of challenge. 9/10
Even 'Join Hands' had them worrying
the competition, despite barely knowing which direction it was
heading. If 'The Scream' had been the shocking, scary debut, then
'Join Hands' was a more absorbing, haunting LP. The hassled angry
sound of the likes of 'Playground Twist' holds it up, the appalling (and
by then out of place) version of 'The Lord's Prayer' lets it down.
8/10
The 'difficult' third LP
'Kaleidoscope' follows, but The Banshees were still bearing up well -
despite the obligatory awful Polydor-punk sleeve, which could have been
knocked out for one of their 20 New Wave groups. Again, they held
you in a cool grip with 'Happy House' (Norman Bates in the shower?) while
the rest of the album tingles, wicked grins on their faces. 7/10
By the time of 'Juju' (they'd lost
me by now) Siouxsie was becoming the Ice Queen and The Banshees, suffering
the first twinges of middle-age a bit early. The sense of urgency
was waning and in its place came a swirling gracefulness - on its own, and
in comparison with what else was being released at the time, it's a
majestic LP; considering what had gone before it was something of a let
down. 5/10
In the reissue list 'A Kiss In The
Dreamhouse' comes next, proving to be an upturn in places with tracks such
as the excellent 'She's A Carnival' and its lyrical mysteries. 7/10
and that's followed by 'Nocturne',
the live, but average collection of all the hits (including 'Dear
Prudence', 'Israel', a better sleeve etc). 7/10
Or if you prefer, Polydor are
replugging the 'Once Upon A Time' collection, the bona fide greatest hits
compilation with studio versions of the singles - an essential starting
place if you've got no other Banshees record. It shows how they
could discipline themselves to make superb pop records. 8/10
And that's it for now. The
Banshees moving on in their bitter-sweet way, regardless of style or
fashion, which is one of their best characteristics. From punk to
pride, through perversity. I suppose we shouldn't take them so much
for granted.
Steve Lamacq
|