Grapthar's Song of the Day: Siouxsie and the Banshees 'The Staircase (Mystery)'

grapthar (74)in #music • 6 years ago

Siouxsie and the Banshees - The Staircase (Mystery)

Siouxsie and the Banshees

are a post-punk/goth/rock band, formed in 1976 in London by singer Siouxise Sioux and bassist Steven Severin. They have become a legendary band over the decades, and their music still stands up as incredibly unique and interesting to this day. They were willing to go places sonically that would make them serious pioneers, incorporating complex harmonies and interesting modulations with the attitude and emotion of punk rock, and creating a super dark sound that would come to define them.

Listen to The Staircase (Mystery) by Siouxsie and the Banshees here.

This song was recording during

the sessions for the first album, although it did not appear on the original release, but rather as an A-side on a 7" single. In newer releases, it appears as the closing track. This is definitely one of my favorites of theirs, it is so dark and intense and immediately drew me in when I first heard it many years ago. The Verse begins in A min, but uses an Emin to Ebmin little diddy to really make things feel macabre and foreboding. There is also a really great tritone progression, where they move by minor thirds up and down, which is such a unique idea, especially considering this was written in the late '70s, and was so different than any of the contemporary punk bands of the era.