February 14, 2022 by A.S. Van Dorston

The last in a trilogy with guitarist John McGeoch sees Sioux & co. at their psychedelic peak, and most experimental.

To me, the most outrageous thing that happened during the infamous Sex Pistols appearance with Bill Grundy on the Today show, December 1, 1976, was the fact that no one said anything about Grundy’s gross behavior in treating Siouxsie Sioux like a groupie — asking the women if they were “enjoying themselves,” dripping with oily innuendo, then suggesting “We’ll meet afterwards, shall we?” — a 53 year-old man to a 19 year-old. When Steve Jones called him out, the focus immediately became his sweary response. Grundy was suspended, and his excuse for his behavior was that he had set out “to prove that these louts were a foul-mouthed set of yobs. And that is what I did prove.” But he also proved that he was a dinosaur, a misogynist waste of space who only saw women as sex objects.

Siouxsie was no groupie, and clearly had no intention of appearing like one. On the show her outfit and makeup were a diabolical take on an evil mime influenced by A Clockwork Orange. Her androgynous fashion didn’t fully mask her natural beauty, but neither did it present her as the sexual prey that Grundy saw her as. She was already an influential fashion icon, her original fusion of glam and fetish having a big impact on punk culture since she and the Bromley Contingent first started following the Pistols in February. Soon she would also help create post-punk music and goth culture, and even contribute influence on the new wave “New Romantics.” Her band had already had their first performance three months before the television appearance. She was a fan who had become an full-fledged artist, nobody’s groupie. An artist who’s influence would arguably extend even further than the Sex Pistols.

Along with early influencers like Magazine and Wire, Siouxsie & The Banshee’s debut The Scream was one of the very first post-punk albums, released on November 13, 1978, nearly a month before John Lydon’s project Public Image Ltd., Public Image/First Edition. The dark, angular, jagged music got 5-star reviews, Record Mirror saying it “points to the future, real music for the new age.” On their third album Kaleidoscope (1980), ex-Magazine guitarist John McGeoch joined the band and helped introduce psychedelic colors to the previously stark music, as the title suggests. McGeoch’s contribution to three of their albums played a big part in bands like Joy Division, The Cure, U2, The Smiths, Jesus & the Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, Radiohead and TV On The Radio citing them as a key influence. The album also featured new drummer Budgie, who had briefly played with fellow post-punk pioneers The Slits. The band reached their peak acclaim, if not commercial success, with Juju (1981).

Their psychedelic peak, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse has Gustav Klimt inspired cover art with deep, rich colors mic the music contained within. The title refers to a Hollywood brothel in the 1940s where prostitutes had cosmetic surgery to look like movie stars like Mae West. The creepy, sensual, surreal lyrics continue the decadent mood throughout. It’s more experimental, making use of tubular bells, chimes, tape loops, multiple vocal overdubs, and an orchestral version of “Fireworks,” a single released earlier in the year. Produced by the band, engineer Mike Hedges helped polish the sharp edges into a shiny sheen similar to the Associates’ Sulk, which he co-produced that same year. They switched up the proto-goth art pop with the dark jazz cabaret of “Cocoon,” and “Green Fingers” augmented by a medieval recorder, courtesy of McGeoch, as well as mandolin in “Melt!,” an early template for dream pop, the Cocteau Twins and most of the 4AD catalog. References to suicide, choking, tiny deaths and being fingered at a funeral courtesy of band co-founder Steven Severin. Sioux’s voice, originally described as “tuneless,” has reached a new peak of elastic subtlety. The strength of the riveting psychedelia of “Cascade,” “Painted Bird” and violin-driven “Slowdive” make this album a real contender for the band’s masterpiece.

While the band would achieve greater commercial success, sadly this was the last album with their greatest lineup. McGeoch opted out of the tour due to poor health, to be replaced temporarily by The Cure’s Robert Smith, and never returned to the band. One can only imagine how much better the subsequent albums could have been with McGeoch’s contributions. All the more reason to revisit and treasure this masterpiece.

More on John McGeoch: The Light Pours Out of Me by Rory Sullivan-Burke, out April 28.