An Impaled Affair

Siouxsie and the Banshees : Carcass

[Purchase]

On November 13, 1978 Siouxsie and the Banshees released their debut album, The Scream.  Along with Magazine's Real Life and Wire's Chairs Missing, as well as the upcoming Public Image Ltd debut, The Scream suggests the new sound of post punk: more complicated, more atmospheric, and a hell of a lot darker. On "Carcass", Siouxsie Sioux sends the listener into cold storage, hanging by a hook, soon to be cooked and served with a little Heinz sauce. ( At least that's my interpretation). With tyhe help of rookie producer Steve Lillywhite, drummer Kenny Morris, guitarist John McKay and bassist Steve Severein provide the angular backing, described by the Rolling Stone Record Guide as "A rich, claustrophobic maelstrom of crude sound",  that would set the table for all gothic pop to follow.

Anyone buying The Scream and hoping for another "Hong Kong Garden" must have been in for a shock. The critics needed to decide whether this was a primitive band signed too soon and still trying to figure out their sound ...or was all of this carefully calculated, perfected over time. Most U.K. critics declared the album a success, with both Sounds and Record Mirror giving The Scream a score of 5 out of 5.

Paul Morley of NME also praised the album, writing

It is not, as some would say, chaotic – it is controlled. Each instrument operates within its own space, its own time, as if mocking the lines of other instruments. Known rock is inverted, leaving just traces of mimickry of rock's cliches – satire that often bursts with glorious justification into shaking celebration (as on "Helter Skelter"). It is easy to gain attention by doing something which is crudely obviously out of the ordinary, but the Banshees have avoided such futile superficialities: it is innovation, not revolution, not a destruction but new building. It has grown out of rock – Velvets, Station to Station, Bolan. And Siouxsie's staggering voice is dropped, clipped, snapped prominently above this audacious musical drama, emphasizing the dark colours and empty, naked moods.

Decades later the album remains influential and a bit frightening. Not reccommended for driving late at night on an empty interstate or listening to on headphones as you wander a dark unfamiliar house.

Severein says "I still think the segue from Pure (the lead track) to Jigsaw Feeling is one of rock's scariest moments. 'Here's our calling card. Get out of that!'"