Siouxsie & the Banshees: Peepshow [POLYDOR]

Why you'll love it

This 180g pressing was mastered and cut at half speed at Abbey Road Studios, with picture labels and a picture inner sleeve. "Peek-A-Boo" became the band's first American hit and the first No. 1 on Billboard's new Modern Rock chart.

This edition

• Half-speed master
• Cut at Abbey Road Studios
• 180g vinyl
• Remastered
• Picture inner sleeve
• Picture labels
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Peepshow was the first Banshees album as a five-piece. Multi-instrumentalist Martin McCarrick brought cello, keyboards and accordion, guitarist Jon Klein added fresh edges, and the band, with producer Mike Hedges, went looking for sounds nobody expected from them. They recorded at Marcus Music in London in early 1988 and mixed at Marquee Studios that spring.

"Peek-A-Boo" is the wild card, a collage of backward percussion, accordion and a voice that ricochets from speaker to speaker. "The Killing Jar" opens with a splash of reggae and melts into a trancelike drone, "Scarecrow" carries a Middle Eastern feel, and "Burn Up" uses cello and drums to mimic a train picking up speed. "The Last Beat Of My Heart" is a gorgeous accordion-led ballad, and on "Rhapsody" Siouxsie Sioux soars into a soprano register. Budgie's drumming and Steven Severin's bass keep it all locked in.

Critics praised the orchestration and the new shades in Siouxsie's voice, and in 2018 Peepshow got its own book in the 33 1/3 series. Not many goth records start with an accordion; this one makes a fine case that more should.

Also at Kops: more Siouxsie and the Banshees on vinyl · browse Industrial & Goth

Tracklist

Listen

On Polydor / Wonderland (cat# SATBLP11), a reissue of the 1988 album.