Evolution, as always, is the key to survival. By the time
Siouxsie and the Banshees released A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, they were already
an established commercial and critically acclaimed force in Britain; their
prior album, Juju, hit the Top 10 and remained in the charts for nearly 20
weeks. However, for a couple of punks from London raised on the notion of
tearing things down and building it back up in their own image, safe commercial
success was never an option.
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse sees the Banshees push their
music down unexpected corridors of mayhem. While not psychedelic in the
traditional sense, the album produces a surreal and otherworldly mood by
flashing unusual sound effects, eerie loops and Sioux’s atypical and out-there
lyrics. Its muscular production job and creative arrangements present a band
fast approaching mastery of their gothic pop craft while expanding their sound
to encompass art pop orchestral backing and studio effect experimentation.
Guitarist John McGeoch and drummer Budgie, already
formidable presences in the band since joining two albums ago, dominate the
proceedings with their powerful command of space. Sharp pricks of electric
riffage and chiming acoustic arpeggios bite into opener “Cascade,” out of the
gate, the Banshees sound tight and to the point.
What makes …. Dreamhouse such a compelling listen is the
band’s keen sense of what makes a song work and their willingness to break
those rules in favour of whatever the hell they want to throw into the mix. By
subtly weaving these unexpected sounds around their post-punk song writing, the
Banshees pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and into art pop punk
bliss.
Ripped from the 180g black vinyl album mastered and cut
half-speed at Abbey Road Studios to 24bit FLAC
Siouxsie And The Banshees – A Kiss In The Dreamhouse
A1. Cascade
A2. Green
Fingers
A3. Obsession
A4. She’s
A Carnival
A5. Circle
B1. Melt
B2. Painted
Bird
B3. Cocoon
B4. Slowdive
After The Creatures - aka Siouxsie and Budgie - were done
with their Wild Things EP, it was time to return to the recording studio with
the Banshees. Throughout their early career they kept recording new LPs with
quite a pace - from 1978's The Scream up until 1982's A Kiss In The Dreamhouse
they released a new album every year. With that in mind, it's astonishing how
effortlessly they kept on reinventing themselves, creating records that always
were distinctively Banshees, yet simultaneously something new and fresh. But
none of these reinventions were quite as radical as what they went through on A
Kiss In The Dreamhouse.
While Juju was a return to the more guitar-oriented sound
of The Scream and Join Hands, Dreamhouse recalls the experimentally of
Kaleidoscope, incorporating a range of new elements, such as loops and string
arrangements - a feat first introduced on the fantastic stand-along single
"Fireworks" that, for one reason or another, was left out of the
album. Indeed, the album has a very, well, kaleidoscopic feel to it, as it is
like a journey through glistering colours and ideas, a theme perfectly mirrored
in its Gustav Klimt inspired artwork (a personal favourite of mine, as a matter
of fact).
At the same time, the drastic departure from the
roughness and the gloominess of the Juju album can also be seen as a statement
against the pigeonholing that the group was experiencing at the time: the
Banshees were fed up with being called "Goth". And while the album
opener "Cascade" would not necessarily sound too out of place on
Juju, the next track "Green Fingers" immediately takes the album
towards the new direction with something that I'd call the most extraordinary
song ever written about gardening. Yes, gardening. But with its flute riff and
stunning arrangements it is all very magical, even fairytale-like. Musically
speaking, it also has the Banshees at their most uplifting (or at least, least
gloomy), even evoking a strong feeling of sincerity and innocence which does
not occur too often with their material.
"Obsession" is a gorgeous, equally magical
story of an obsessive lover ("I broke into your room / I broke down in my
room / Touched your belongings there / and left a lock of my hair").
Complete with bells and beautiful strings, the fateful-sounding dark song is
one of the most unexpected tunes on the album. "She's A Carnival" and
"Circle" continue with the more upbeat sound of "Green
Fingers", with the former featuring a peculiar circus-sounding outro that
segues to the latter. Although "Circle" does feature some highly
disturbing lyrics about domestic violence and other bad habits that keep on
passing from one generation to another, to another, to another. (Is it just me
or could the opening lyrics "Pretty girl of 16 has fun and runs crazy /
Ruined girl of 16, now a mother grows lazy" serve as a twisted intro to
MTV's 16 and Pregnant?) Even despite the somewhat depressing lyrics about
"The endless full circle" where history keeps on repeating itself, it
does make an interesting, albeit weird listen.
The latter half of the album begins with
"Melt!", a sensual number with lush instrumentals and somewhat risqué
lyrics about lovemaking: "So many blazing orchids burning in your throat /
Making you choke, making you sigh / Sigh in tiny deaths". But yes, they
keep it rather classy and no, it's certainly no taking-rides-on-disco-sticks
rubbish we get these days (what on earth is a disco stick anyway?). It is then
followed by the ferocious "Painted Bird" that, in my humble opinion,
should've been a single - it would've made a wonderful music video for sure. As
the title suggests, it was inspired by Jerzy Kosiński's 1965 novel The Painted
Bird, a controversial book noted for its violence, that features a scene where
the protagonist observes a bird catcher paint one of his captured birds with
bright colours, then releasing it with the consequence that the rest of its
flock would attack the painted bird, not recognising it and ultimately killing
it. The song, while also dealing with deeper symbolism, refers to this
particular scene as well: "On lead poisoned wings / You try to sing /
Freak beak shrieks are thrown / At your confusing hue" before finally
concluding "we're painted birds by our own design".
One of the biggest peculiarities on the album (in the
best of ways) is the jazz number "Cocoon", the lyrics of which
Siouxsie apparently wrote while high on acid. It is indeed a trippy little tune
that could in all of its twistedness easily make an appearance on that Twin
Peaks jukebox. Ending the album comes the string-tinged lead single
"Slowdive", another song with sexual lyrics and unexpected
instrumentals. Fun fact: the "oh my gosh" around 3:27 is not
Siouxsie, but in fact a violinist sighing out of tiredness.
The album is truly a daring adventure that, in hindsight,
can be seen as a beginning of the Banshees' experimental period. Venturing into
the realms of psychedelia and avant-garde, the band certainly steps out of its
comfort zone and does that with spectacular results. The album might not come
without flaws, but it's undoubtedly the group's boldest one. Dreamhouse sounds
fantastic: mature but thriving, honed yet experimental. Same can be said about
Siouxsie's vocals that, once again like on Kaleidoscope, are here given more
space to evolve into a range of emotions, from the sultriness of
"Cocoon" to the subtlety of "Obsession" and the softness of
"Melt!", while still getting a chance to be commanding and merciless
on tracks like "Painted Bird". This is the band in their prime, with
tremendous artistic confidence. Now if only they had replaced
"Cascade" with the stand-alone masterpiece "Fireworks",
we'd have an even more amazing album in our hands.
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