5.0 - Listening to "Monitor" I imagine an angry sky of charcoal conjured by the jagged guitars. The brutal crashing of the drums beckon claps of thunder and I see green flashes of lightning brusting from the dark clouds. Then Siouxsie Sioux materializes from this stormy chaos, an oversized Medusa head fixing her glowing red eyes on me as she pronounces impending doom with her forked tongue. I think many contemporaries like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Knife and the Killers (to name a few) have tried to capture the same drama and magic but not many come close to Siouxsie & The Banshees. Side note: I curse Robert Dimery often for recommending records I've found underwhelming (e.g. "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen). But I'm equally thankful for his influence in getting me to listen to records like "Juju" that I may have avoided for stupid reasons (e.g. a weird band name like Siouxsie & The Banshees).