Juju - Siouxsie & The Banshees > Reviews > The richest they got

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Burn in hell
Disadvantages:	Everything else after is empty

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

By 1981, the transformation was complete ... the Gothic black and white with the merest hint of icy blue had been replaced by sweeping daubs of red, yellow and green, glowing in their richness ... the previous berating urge to "be a carcass, be a dead pork, be limblessly in love" had given way to rather more winsome optimism: "Myriad lights - they said I'd be impressed, Arabian Knights - at your primitive best."

The vampiric ghouls, zombies and Rhein maiden had been left behind, replaced by the rich robes, beads and trinkets of tribal warriors ... the icy shards of lumpen rock had given way to huge sweeping romantic melodies and guitar as paintbrush and pen rather than rapier and bludgeon ... the 81 vintage Siouxsie and the Banshees had reinvented themselves and their sound, and were all the better for it ... Ju Ju, their awesome statement of intent, was quite simply the work of a band apart, truly one of the most massive and imposing rock albums of all time...

The change was dramatic and for those who had observed Sioux and Severin (then Havoc) teamed up with Sid Vicious on drums and Marco Pironi (later Adam Ant's right hand thug) on guitar, butchering their way through a bizarre version of The Lord's Prayer at the 100 Club punk festival in September 1976 there would have been no clues that such things were remotely possible...

Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin had always been the heart and (empty) soul of the Banshees, ever since they encountered each other at an early Sex Pistols gig in 1975.

Susan Jane Dallion was born on 27 May 1957, and grew up in the South London suburb of Chiselhurst. At this point, fact becomes inextricably entwined with the carefully constructed Banshee mystique: she is said to have attempted suicide at the age of six and was later ostracised at school for being a witch. Her father died an alcoholic when she was 14, and she is reported to have laid a barbed wire wreath on his grave.

Steve Bailey was two years older than her, but shared her musical fascinations - a combination of glam rock and the American punk movement which spawned the New York Dolls, the Velvet Underground and the Stooges. It was a potent amalgamation...

The 100 Club event was a stumbling step on the way towards having their own bona fide band, which initially included eventual manager Nils Stevenson and P T Fenton on guitar, although it was only when Kenny Morris and John McKay joined on drums and guitar/sax that things really began to take shape.

They established a rabid live following, but were steadfastly ignored by the music establishment for months as all around them labels were falling over themselves to sign their own house punk band ... unfortunately the Banshees were a bit too knowing and clever for them, too unwilling to compromise. In the winter of 1977-78 unknown assailants scrawled 'Sign the Banshees - Do It Now' on the walls of 15 London labels. But it was not until June 1979 that Polydor took the plunge and risked it.

The debut album, The Scream, was an excellent showcase for the band's sound, but the follow up, the patchy and disappointing Join Hands, was Banshees By Numbers and soon forgotten, as were Morris and McKay, who walked out after a falling out at a record signing session in Aberdeen.

1980's Kaleidoscope album represented a change of direction with various guitarists contributing, and was a promising move, but it was 1981's Ju Ju that really marked the arrival of the new Banshees, highlighted by the wondrous performances of their new members, Budgie and John McGeoch.

Budgie had played in a number of Liverpool bands in the mid to late 70's, including Big In Japan, but really came to prominence when he temporarily filled the drumming vacancy for the anarchic all girl band, The Slits, creating the startling rhythms which powered the wonderful Cut album. He was drafted into the Banshees line up when McKay and Morris departed and debuted on the astonishing Happy House single, with his unmistakably huge drum sound transforming things with a hypnotic surge of jungle tom tom patterns.

His was a constantly inventive percussive approach which reached its peak when he branched off with Sioux to form the voice and drums only partnership the Creatures, and his masterful rhythmic patterns transported the 1981-era Banshees to a whole new level.

John McGeoch was the guitarist who had guested on Kaleidoscope but became a fully fledged Banshee on Ju Ju, and his contribution was just as impressive as Budgie's. McGeoch's melodic and wide ranging guitar style had formed the perfect accompaniment to Howard Devoto's mannered vocalisations with Magazine. 1978's Real Life album was a stunning showcase for an extraordinary band that never really fulfilled its true potential, but after Kaleidoscope McGeoch moved over full time.

His strident, rich, varied playing highlighted Ju Ju and gave it its real passion and colour over the thumping heart and soul of Budgie's rhythmic patterns.

The new combination saw the Banshees rise to startling new heights, sparking off the best in each other and prompting the best collection they ever created, indeed Ju Ju is one of the finest albums of all time, by a distance outpacing most everything else around at the time.

The subject matter was fairly standard Banshees - death, destruction, alienation, madness, witchcraft, horror - but it was the Ju Ju sound and musical vistas that really marked it as a masterpiece - dense, rich and thickly textured, with a powerful and savage beauty.

Track listing -
Spellbound
Into the Light
Arabian Knights
Halloween
Monitor
Night Shift
Sin In My Heart
Head Cut
Voodoo Dolly

The thunderously heavy tom patterns are counterpointed by the delicate swish and swirl of Budgie's hi hat and cymbals as Spellbound provides a wonderfully seductive opening to the album - quite simply a classic 80's single and very possibly my favourite song of all with McGeoch's acoustic lines and rhythms providing the lighter touches. McGeoch apes the style used by Keith Levine on Public Image's Metal Box, but imbues it with his own distinctive melodic feel, leaving Levine exposed as the shallow stylist he actually was, hiding behind the gadgetry and tricks his fairly limited talent. McGeoch is an awesome guitarist and his combination with the huge assault and battery of Budgie makes Spellbound the ultimate rock single.

Spellbound is the stunning major attraction here and is taken at breakneck speed, a glorious rush of noise and the Banshees at probably the peak of their power - it's certainly my favourite track ever and showcases the genius frenzy that is Budgie to perfection on those glorious toms of his.

John McGeoch is also on top form and provides memorable lead lines all over the place as the Banshees almost go sell out - shock horror, this is meaty pop of the best kind.

Next to that fearsome opening salvo, Into The Light is relatively pedestrian and orthodox, although its addictive and attractive riffing never allow it to lag too much.

Arabian Knights is another single on this album, but does not really match the push and drive of Spellbound. Nevertheless its hushed, almost mystical, melody and atmospheres render it classic Banshees, ushered in by the chiming tones of McGeoch's guitar before the bass dominated riffing takes over while Sioux actually abandons whooping and hollering for honest to goodness singing and harmonies at times. It's gorgeously uplifting stuff with Siouxsie's 'Hup hup hup' chant strangely memorable.

Halloween is the closest thing here to the sound of The Scream with its clanging chords, although the gift for pop hooks which McGeoch is peculiarly gifted with never allow it to wholly go back there. The subject matter too is almost orthodox Banshees, but the drive and wild power render this a massive step forward on anything McKay ever managed.

Monitor is real rifferama heaven with the heavy bass and thumping drums laying down the groundwork for McGeoch's insistently scratchy work to take the band where it will go, with Sioux's rhythmic vocal hammering us ever on, tugged and twisted by that sinewy, thumping riff. Try to avoid tapping your foot to this one, go on I dare you. The false ending leaves you momentarily deflated before the scritch scratch guitar and booming bass deliver you effortlessly back into the band's clawing, greedy clutches...

Night Shift is one of the more ponderous, moody pieces here, all empty space and huge holes, allowing McGeoch to build up the brooding, insistent atmosphere, ushering you into the deepest darkest heart of the Banshees world as Sioux stands up for women of the night.

Sin In My Heart is all plaintive, urgent guitar at the start before shattering glass kicks off a driving rhythmic powerhouse that builds steadily to a breathtaking pace which drags you along helplessly in its wake.

Head Cut lyrically (again) could be The Scream revisited, gleefully detailing surgery and butchery - we're never quite sure which, but it's always sinister and scary, something very weird is going on. The rhythms here are compact and punchy but McGeoch uses their rock steady beat as his jumping off point and meanders all over the place with stabbing, urgent combination of rhythm and lead guitar.

And that just leaves us with Voodoo Dolly, an ominous, leaden paced tour de force which is obviously intended to be the big sign off, a rumbling, grumbling piece which clocks in at a full seven minutes, with Sioux's threatening, little girl lost whispered vocals dissecting all our fears and madness and McGeoch jaggering all over the place in the way he used to do with Magazine. It's an exercise in low key horror, almost grinding to a halt at moments before the pace picks up once more under Sioux's direction, battering our sensibilities incomprehensibly, nagging away at our deepest fears, but somehow leaving us feeling empty and numb.

But the general feeling is one of emotion and colour brimming over, washing away all that numbness, leaving us surprisingly uplifted, despite the morbid subject matter and dark moods. The textural depth of this album leaves all those who would decry the Banshees mystified and confused. For those of us who love the band, this was the ultimate reward for our faith.