Siouxsie and the Banshees' Peepshow from Samantha Bennett is a wonderful addition to this series. Many volumes focus on lesser known or less popular works by the artists while this one focuses on one of their bigger commercial successes, but does so through a different lens, which shows this work in a different light.

The basic lens through which we come to view this album, it's creation, and the individual tracks is a filmic one. From how they perceived what they were doing to how they went about achieving the results they did. Bennett makes a strong case for her argument and, though certainly not the only way to understand the album, offers a perspective that will enhance other perspectives.

Though academic to an extent this is not so dense that one needs to be versed in theory. Bennett explains the concepts she uses and gives sufficient background of that type for a casual reader to understand her argument. It apparently went over the head of at least one "student of media studies" I saw but that is likely why he WAS a STUDENT and not currently either a student or professional in the area. No shame there, but sometimes a little knowledge ends up obstructing more than it illuminates. Read and take in this book on Bennett's terms, understand what she is trying to say. Once you understand what and how she is making her points, then go back and decide which parts you accept, which you don't, and which you are undecided about. But to stop part way? Well, that says more about you than the book.

I would recommend this to fans of the group as well as those interested in musicology, popular culture and the interplay between different art forms. This is not a light read but is readily accessible to most interested readers. No theoretical background is necessary though it will help to flesh out some aspects of what bennett might be getting at that goes beyond the scope of this book.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

A well thought out, well-researched study of the Siouxsie and the Banshees album Peepshow. Samantha Bennett studies the album through a filmic lens saying it represents the movie the band never made. Despite some stiff language, she presents enough evidence, quotes, and citations to support her argument. It's a unique way to look at the album and it'll make you think differently about the band's approach to music.

While the book felt a bit dense at times, it was able to grab my attention with the various film and pop culture references throughout. It goes in-depth on what influenced Souxsie and the Banshees as they worked on Peepshow and it's a great addition to the history of the album, which I knew nothing about going into this.

I genuinely like this series, it's definitely a mainstay in the many musical biography sections. This one in particular didn't feel as accessible as other titles that I've come across. I do think, however, that fans of the band will definitely enjoy it.

I like this series of books, I feel like you get a lot from each book and the in-depth analysis from each author.

However, I felt like this one didn't really gel with me. On saying that, I did pick up the album and play it again while reading about it, so some good came of it.

I think this would be for the more hardcore Siouxsie fan than a more casual one like me.

An intriguing look at the recording of "Peepshow" by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Covering the recording location at Berry House in 1987 after the Great Storm had turned the idyllic countryside into a type of haunted landscape.

It explores the title choice and voyeurism influences of each track. It was fascinating for me to read how each track has its roots in a vintage movie or the references that they contain.

A must read for all die-hard fans.

Very much yes, and very much no. When the subject of this book landed with the 'Peek-a-Boo' single, I liked it a lot, but always thought it was not Siouxsie. Well, what was I to know in my teenaged naivety about Pabst, Dietrich, and other cinematic references that were then hidden to me, and the film-based oeuvre of the band that I was completely unaware of? The chapter discussing this, and indeed the (wannabe-haunted) house setting of the whole album's recording before it were fine reading.

But as soon as the next chapter accuses 'The Killing Jar' of having "a lazy reggae beat" – which it patently does not have – I hit a brick wall. What follows in discussing this song is just Pseuds' Corner. Nowhere does it pick up on the wordless vocal refrain that finally ties this lovely album to the goth roots of the band, but instead declares the instrumentation sounds like frogs, and witters on about "metaphorical mapping" and an "oxymoronic ascription" of actions. W, T, and indeed F. Having been a media studies student I thought I'd gain much insight from an author that clearly knows about both film studies and musicality, but when she spouts such falsity and incoherence I have only one duty, to switch off. The following content may have been accurate, but I just didn't get over said wall to find out. As mad as a box of guiros.
One and a half stars.

The 33 1/3 series keeps cranking out great stuff. This one, focusing on a mid career album, is written by Samantha Bennett - an Associate Professor at the Australian National University and musician. Bennett takes an academic comparative analysis perspective, using film studies techniques in application to an album from a band heavily influenced by film and paracinematic experiences - and she does an awesome job. It's refreshing to read a positive (but critical) analysis of an album which isn't just a fan-gushing hagiography. Bennett makes detailed comparative analysis to particular film types (horror, epic, etc.), periods (Wiemar, 70s exploitation, etc.), and personnel (Hammer, Hitchcock, Bunuel, etc.) when parsing the fine detailed influence points on the album. This can go from the structural comparative of epic films to the song Rhapsody to the string swells and tonality used on the album which are similar to those found in Hitchcock's Strangers on A Train. While the book is written from an academic perspective, it never feels dense or burdensome to read. Granted Bennett does use some jargon which may require a dictionary, but the richness it provides is actually wonderful. Loved this book, love the album, and they go great together - rereading the book while listen to the album brought forth so many details which I had glossed over before. Highly recommended for anyone interested in music, film, or culture in any way.

I loved this book. It briught back memories of when Siouxsie and the Banshees were amongst my favourite group.
It full of informations, well researched and it helped me to better understand their songs.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

Perhaps unfairly, I was a little surprised to see 33 1/3's Siouxsie book covering the obvious hit album, the big, full-production number; if I'd guessed I would have expected one of the earlier, (post-)punkier albums would be more in line with the imprint's aesthetic. And yes, I know it's a big wide line, and contributors propose their own subjects...but you still come to these assumptions, don't you? Still, I'm glad this is where it landed: one of the first goth albums (as against compilations) I taped, one which still sounds strange and spooky today even after the aesthetic has undergone thirty years of mainstreaming. And Bennett has done excellent work here at both close reading, often line by line and sound by sound - the piece on the bridge in 'The Killing Jar' was especially impressive - and at finding a wider context for the record. The influence of the great storm of 1987 on the recording, for instance, would never have occurred to me, despite being one of the most memorable incidents of my childhood - but yes, there it is in band interviews from the time, and once you see that, it all falls into place as making perfect sense. Bennett's overarching theme, though, is of <i>Peepshow</i> as almost a recapitulation of the history of film, which whether or not it's what the band had in mind, is certainly a valid and interesting way to talk about an album which does seem more indebted to the vignettes it describes and soundtracks than to the band's predecessors in pop and rock. This is a reading in which even more than Hitchcock, Bernard Herrmann is a key influence, and in which each song (or pair) is approached via a different genre - noir, musical, vaudeville... And I love it. If I have an objection it's that I was in places reminded why I don't read more within film studies: as a discipline it can be prone to overwriting, to trying that little bit too hard to prove it deserves a place among the academic big boys. So I winced at the line where, rather than people living in the country, we got "those residing in the rural surrounds", and the reference to "C.S. Lewis's literary classic The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)" wasn't much better. Still, this was an uncorrected proof from Netgalley, and hopefully the blue pencil will get to those before the finished edition. Though I bet the word 'topoi' will survive, and that one always makes me itchy. Still! I have to respect the dedication of someone who listened through all the presets on the Banshees' synths to confirm that they were creating bespoke sounds in particular places. And I especially enjoyed the section on my favourite track, 'Ornaments of Gold'. I'd forgotten what a banger this is, but Bennett goes a little deeper than that, pointing out the ways in which both words and music subvert the finger-wagging usually associated with masses of gold, referencing then upending a tradition running from sacred texts to Hollywood historical-fantastic and leaving us with pure decadent release.