Siouxsie & The Banshees

Born from punk rock’s autodidactic first wave in 1976, Siouxsie & The Banshees became standard-bearers for post-punk at its most thrillingly ambitious. Formed around singer Siouxsie Sioux and bassist Steven Severin, the London group soon established a darkly metallic style streaked with dissonance and fronted by Siouxsie’s powerful shrieks and wails. With early albums like 1981’s Ju Ju, they became leaders of the emerging goth scene (The Cure’s Robert Smith even joined their revolving-door lineup for a spell), and the increasing polish of albums like 1986’s Tinderbox helped the underground subculture find new fans worldwide. But Siouxsie & The Banshees never limited themselves to any genre. Their discography is full of surprises—covers of The Beatles and Billie Holiday, sampled beats and string quartets. They might have been post-punk’s most dynamic band; lurking inside their shadows lie all the colours of the rainbow.