Siouxsie and the Banshees “Peepshow” 1988. I never need an excuse to throw on some Siouxsie but it being just days away from Halloween and a dark and stormy day makes “Peepshow,” the band’s 9th studio release, extra appropriate.

Peepshow is a mesmerizing masterpiece, a mix of gloom/doom and danceable alt-pop perfection. The album made it to #20 in the UK and #68 in the US in ‘88.  “The Killing Jar” (#41 UK singles chart, #2 US Modern Rock Tracks chart) is bleak in content and dense in orchestration. “Scarecrow” is brilliant and terrifying. “Carousel” takes the classic organ music from the amusement ride and shifts it to something beyond dark and demented, all the while Siouxsie’s clear voice soars hauntingly above the swirl (Its motor whirrs and colors curl, inside your head the monsters whirl).  Melody Maker described “The Last Beat of My Heart” as “the highlight [of the album], where Siouxsie’s voice explores new ground as she caresses a haunting melody.“  Peepshow concludes with the operatic and majestic ballad “Rhapsody.”

Upbeat dancing fun also shines on Peepshow with “Burn Up” (though not too sunny: All fire and brimstone/The jack o’ lantern/He likes to watch the buildings burn) and the record’s biggest hit, “Peek-a-Boo,” which reached #16 on the UK singles chart and #1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. I love “Peek-a-Boo,” a song that gets included on many of my mixes. Every time I hear it I think back to ‘88 and ‘89 when I was a senior in high school. My look back then was somewhere between punk, ska and hippie and I always rocked enormous black platform shoes, often in patent leather, sometimes with silver buckles and studs. My friend Mitzi would take great delight in singing, in the “Peek-a-Boo” melody while pointing at my shoes, “Golly jeepers, where’d you get those creepers? Peepshow creepshow where did you get those shoes?”

Not my actual shoe, but you get the idea.