{Out of Print}
Having finally split two years ago after a difficult comeback tour, The Banshees left a formidable body of work. Through their B-sides, Downside Up charts an alternative history of one of Britain's most cherished groups. From the start they proved to be a far more dynamic proposition than their post-punk and goth peers and, especially during their early-'80s heyday, always relished the chance to try something new for a B-side.Their first 'Voices', the haunting flip to 1978's debut single, 'Hong Kong Garden', sets an impressive standard, swiftly followed by a thrash through '20th Century Boy'. The golden period, when drummer Budgie and ex-Magazine guitarist John McGeoch joined founders Siouxsie and ever-supple bassist Steve Severin, produced the tribal 'Congo Conga' and the spectral 'Cannibal Roses'. Moonlighting from The Cure, and a good friend of Severin's, Robert Smith's brief stint as a Banshee resulted in enjoyably psychedelic studio doodles like 'There's A Planet In My Kitchen'.
Elsewhere, there are covers of 'All Tomorrow's Parties' and Ben E. King's 'Supernatural Thing', cut-up pop like 'Catwalk', and, for the first time on CD, 1984's 'The Thorn EP', for which the Banshees re-recorded B-sides 'Voices' and 'Red Over White' with a string quartet. An exhaustive and fascinating collection from an astonishing group.
~Piers Martin
Siouxsie Sioux first came to our attention in 1976 as a Sex Pistols acolyte who was standing behind the band during the notorious interview with Bill Grundy on the Today programme. Yet with hindsight, her work doesn't seem to belong to punk at all. Her debut album didn't appear until 1978, by which time untutored three chord thrashing was beginning to appear passé. Instead, with the Banshees she helped invent a form of post-punk discord full of daring rhythmic and sonic experimentation that was as influential as it is underrated.
Downside Up features 55 tracks spread across four discs, some of which have not previously appeared on CD. The result is a collection that constitutes an alternative history far more revealing than a greatest hits package, for here is a group that never filled b-sides with inferior throwaway tracks. Rather they saw them as an outlet for some their most radical and challenging work.
Standouts include the spiky Drop Dead/Celebration, the sinister Eve White/Eve Black and the chopped up industrial funk of Tattoo, tracks that prove that the Banshees stand proudly alongside PIL, Gang Of Four and The Fall as the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era.
~Nigel Williamson
