John McGeoch

Yeah.

After they got back from tour, they brought in John McGeoch from Magazine to play guitar and began work on their next album, Kaleidoscope, in early 1980.

As you might expect from half the band getting replaced, their sound changed pretty dramatically.

They set out to make an album where every song sounded different.

Who in the world sang like this before? The closest antecedent I can think of would be Grace Slick, but Susie sings with even more focus and intensity.

She somehow sounds like she's looking you straight in the eye and comes across as someone both in total control and at the mercy of some unseen force.

The other sound we're faced with immediately is the guitar of John McGeoch.

John McKay's work on the first two Banshees albums was incredibly influential on guitarists like Steve Albini, Thurston Moore, Kevin Shields, and just about anyone who's ever played scratchy, jagged, dissonant post-punk guitar.

So that made him realize the guitar can play sounds that aren't 12 bar blues shapes and all that kind of stuff.

But I think the other influence that he does, which is becoming more apparent in this one, like you say, all the colors and the, the atmospheres is, um, John McGeoch from Siouxsie and the Banshees.

All right.

Yeah.

It's used as a, used as a, an almost an oc- an orchestrated piece of music around...

And he does that, he does all the layers on this now, and that's where he goes from here on in.

Did I not dr- uh, uh, um, what I'm about to say may be completely wrong, listeners, but was John McGeoch not in the Buzzcocks? I don't know.

I may have said the wrong thing there, in which case-

Um, and then called it a day.

And obviously, uh, Adamson went on to Big Country, and Richard Jobson went on to The Armory Show with John, uh, John McGeoch.

John McGock, McGeoch.

McGeoch, yeah.

[laughs]

You know, where did this come from? Very much along the lines of, of...

I mean, if you imagine The Skids, but with John McGeoch as, as, as guitarist, I mean, you're talking two of the greatest post-punk guitarists, you know? Stuart Adamson, John McGeoch.

Yeah.

I don't need to be here 'cause you have done me bass." You know, "I'll let you know if I can fit in." He goes off with Nick Cave.

John McGeoch says, "I've done the guitar solo on Blocks and Blocks.

Let me know if you need anything else." And he says, "I've got to go to Simple..." And then he says, "Siouxsie and the Banshees." And I'm like, "Well, the skids want me to join them, but we're nearly finished.

We're nearly finished." And, and we were all in other bands.