Siouxsie and the Banshees



Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band (for a given definition of "rock", anyway) formed in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux (born Susan Ballion) and bassist Steven Severin (born Steven John Bailey). While their roots were very much in the punk rock scene (the impromptu gig that led to the band's formation actually featured Sid Vicious on drums) they quickly branched out and began to employ a wide variety of instruments and musical styles.


 * Anime Hair: Siouxsie, Budgie, Robert Smith, Kenny Morris, and John McGeoch.
 * Bishonen: Budgie, Robert Smith, John McKay, and Jon Klein.
 * Darkskinned Blonde: Budgie.
 * Double Entendre: Some people believe the song "Slowdive" to be about sex or masturbation.
 * Dream Team: When The Cure's Robert Smith joined the band as a guitarist.
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Siouxsie, Robert Smith, and John Carruthers.
 * Looks Like Cesare: Again, Siouxsie and Robert.
 * Goth Rock
 * Grief Song: Quite a few. "Rhapsody", for instance, although the grief there isn't induced by the death of a person.
 * Long Runner Lineup: Played straight and averted at the same time. While they did go through a lot of lineup changes, mostly guitarists, the core members of the band were the same for nearly all the 17 years of their run: Siouxsie, Steven Severin (the founding members) and drummer Budgie. The latter was recruited to play for their 1979 Join Hands tour: he was originally supposed to be a temporary member but ended up remaining until the band's breakup in 1995. The fact that he hooked up with and subsequently married Siouxsie probably helped.
 * Lyrical Dissonance: Often.
 * Magnum Opus: According to the band, Peepshow. Before that, it was A Kiss in the Dreamhouse.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: "She's a Carnival".
 * Minimalistic Cover Art: The cover of the Israel single.
 * Ms. Fanservice Siouxsie.
 * Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly: They quickly grew out of their punk/post-punk beginnings and began to explore a wide variety of musical genres.
 * Ominous Music Box Tune: combined to great effect with Last-Note Nightmare in "Carousel".
 * Our Banshees Are Louder
 * Pyromaniac: "All fire and brimstone, this jack-o'-lantern, he likes to watch the buildings burn..."
 * Scary Scarecrows: "Scarecrow", of course. Differs from most examples in that the lyrics have a vaguely sexual subtext.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Drummer Kenny Morris and guitarist John McKay ditched the group without notice.
 * Stalker with a Crush / Murder Ballad: A favourite lyrical theme, especially notable in "Carcass" and "Head Cut".
 * Take That: "Drop Dead".
 * Word Salad Lyrics: You often get the impression Siouxsie's trying to tell you something, but you can't quite figure out what.