The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie and the Banshees
2002: Polydor/Wonderland/Geffen 440 065 152-2
Although I spent a few years sharing a mighty fun house on Capitol Hill (Seattle) with a Goth or two (and associated friends/hangers-on, especially at our many parties), I never really acquired a taste for Siouxsie et al…a familiarity, perhaps, but not an appetite. Still, I got a good exposure to this milieu and found some aspects that I did connect with.
I’d encountered “Peek-a-Boo” before this, even bought a 12" single version, but the only other track of Siouxsie and the Banshees that has ever caught my attention so is the captivatingly well-crafted “Kiss Them for Me,” which churns along at a steady pace amidst swoopy melody and swirly decorative flourishes. That it’s essentially a portrait of Jayne Mansfield just intensifies the sparkle of each heavily-hammered-in spangle. (To my surprise it is even better on headphones, because there you can hear clearly that the opening’s main drumbeats contain Siouxsie’s “K” of :”kiss,” and of course the interweaving of all those swirling thematic musical elements just makes the shiny parts more shiny.)
“Dear Prudence” is a quite decent alternative to the Beatles original, and I don’t at all dislike it. As for the rest of the album, I listen to it now and then but don’t dwell on most of it aside from the tracks I’ve mentioned here: it’s like someone else’s party, and I just happen to like a little of the music I’m overhearing.
Comments © 2005 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.