Day 42: Siouxsie and the Banshees – Juju

Album cover courtesy of Polydor

I got a recommendation for Siouxsie and the Banshees. Any slightly gothic or goth-inspired act have a very distinctly autumnal feel to me, so it felt appropriate for my mid-October leaf-peeping drive. I’d heard the hits but never really sat down to listen to a full album before, so I went with their 1981 release Juju.

Siouxsie and the Banshees is a post-punk band that was formed in 1976 and was fronted by Siouxsie Sioux, which I have to remind myself is just pronounced Susie. Her name is Susan, you say Susie, the X is very much silent. Siouxsie and her friend Steve Severin, who later became the bassist of Siouxsie and the Banshees, were part of a group of punks called the Bromley Contingent, known for being dedicated fans and followers of the Sex Pistols.

The band emerged from that fan group, as they decided to get on stage before the Sex Pistols at a punk festival with no rehearsal to just make whatever noise they wanted to, and it ended up going well. Siouxsie, Steve, drummer Kenny Morris and guitarist John McKay recorded the Siouxsie and the Banshees debut album The Scream in 1977 after someone had graffitied the walls of record companies in London with “Sign the Banshees! Do it now!” Polydor duly obliged.

Siouxsie described the band as non-musicians and sound innovators rather than rock musicians, saying that the ethos of the band is “making different sounds with what you’ve got. We go out of our way not to be musicians… we don’t rehearse till our fingers bleed.” You can hear that on Juju. Even by today’s standards, it still sounds fresh and different. They somehow manage to build atmosphere in their songs in a way that feels rare. As influential as Siouxsie and the Banshees were, no one is really doing it like them, even today.

 Juju really holds up, despite being released almost 45 years ago. It’s a very solid 8.5/10. I’ve been missing out by not listening to them actively, I’m now tempted to go through their whole back catalogue. Also, fun facts: one of the former members of the band was Robert Smith from the Cure, having jumped in as a member while the Cure was touring with the Banshees, who were struggling to recruit a new guitarist. Before they had released their first album, they also briefly had Sid Vicious on the drums.