Siouxsie and the Banshees - Juju
#295
By Chris Jackson
June 6 1981
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Juju
Genre: Gothy angsty drama
Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Chris’ 3.5 out of 5.0
Highlights:
All of it? None of it?
Boy, this record was not made with me in mind. Certainly not single-digit-aged me upon its release and not late-40s me at the end of 2020.
Is it post-punk? I think so. Is it early goth? I think so. Am I sure that I actually think so? Maybe not.
I certainly know of the band Siouxsie and the Banshees by name, but I never delved into their work. I envision the band forming after a flyer went up on the high school bulletin board with pre-ripped phone number tags at the bottom (the majority of these would be pulled off angrily by the jocks and bullies, but a few would end up in the hands of those that were actually interested): WANT TO JOIN A BAND? COME SEE WHAT WE’RE ABOUT THIS TUESDAY AFTER DRAMA CLUB!
The guitar tones on this are super thin and wirey and, honestly, really not to my liking. The music feels dark in a way that makes me think they said, “Let’s make this one dark!” The vocals are delivered SO seriously and every song feels like “Sioux” is on the verge of a nervous breakdown or she’s about to murder her loser boyfriend or she hates her parents or all of the above. Again, I don’t think I’m really the target audience on this one…
That said, yeah, I stand by my rating of 3.5 out of 5.0 because I certainly see where others might really like and relate to some of this. I’m pretty open-minded when I listen to music that’s outside of my preferred genres and often can discover something I really love when I do, but this one just didn’t resonate with me. I think if you like a little dissonance, a lot of drama and female-fronted rock bands (and, ironically, I have enjoyed all of those things in music at one time or another) and you’re actually not familiar with this band or album, I’d say give it a shot. I must admit, I think they effectively captured what they wanted to capture with this.
If you don’t like those things at all…steer clear.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5OEum65e1HMGX51Ifu51Wb?si=gJgRXTjMQrKyrHIY7lrb7w
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