One of the bands masterworks, Juju sees Siouxsie and the Banshees operating in a squalid wall of sound dominated by tribal drums, swirling and piercing guitars, and Siouxsie Siouxs fractured art-attack vocals. If not for John McGeochs marvelous high-pitched guitars, here as reminiscent of Joy Division as his own work in Magazine, the album would rank as the bands most gothic release. Siouxsie and company took things to an entirely new level of darkness on Juju, with the singer taking delight in sinister wordplay on the disturbing Head Cut, creeping out listeners in the somewhat tongue-in-cheek Halloween, and inspiring her bandmates to push their rhythmic witches brew to poisonous levels of toxicity.

Album opener Spellbound, one of the bands classics, ranks among their finest moments and bristles with storming energy. Siouxsies mysterious voice emerges from dense guitar picking, Budgie lays into his drums as if calling soldiers to war, and things get more tense from there. Into the Light is perhaps the only track where a listener gets a breath of oxygen, as the remainder of the album screams claustrophobia, whether by creepy carnival waterfalls of guitar notes or Siouxsies unsettling lyrics. Arabian Nights at least offers a gorgeously melodic chorus, but after that the band performs a symphony of bizarre wailings and freaky imagery. As ominous as the cacophony is on its own, close attention to Siouxsies nearly subliminal chants paints a scarier picture. A passage such as I saw youa huge smiling central face with eyes and lips cut out but smiling and eating lots of other lips doesnt exactly brighten ones day. Siouxsie is full of such quips throughout the albums running time, but her delivery packs as much punk as her message. Her attack-the-world dynamic range on Voodoo Dolly predates and out-weirds Bjrks similar styling years later. McGeoch, Budgie, and bassist Steven Severin deserve just as much credit for crafting an original sound that would inspire a diverse group of future bands from Ministry to Placebo.

All the while, producer Nigel Gray maintains the sense that the album is an immediate, edgy performance unfolding right in front of the listener. The upfront intensity of Juju probably isnt matched anywhere else in the catalog of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Thanks to its killer singles, unrelenting force, and invigorating dynamics, Juju is a post-punk classic.

Review

A1 Spellbound
A2 Into The Light
A3 Arabian Knights
A4 Halloween
A5 Monitor
B1 Night Shift
B2 Sin In My Heart
B3 Head Cut
B4 Voodoo Dolly