Jon Klein Revisits Siouxsie & The Banshees' Monitor With Jah Wobble

09-19-2023

(RFPR) This year saw one of the most triumphant comebacks in recent memory - after a near decade absence, goth rock/post-punk icon Siouxsie Sioux returned to the stage for a series of shows that were rapturously received by legions of adoring fans. Commemorating the occasion was the release of a brand-new tribute album, Spellbound - A Tribute To Siouxsie & The Banshees, that offered a thrilling glimpse of how the next generation of underground artists from Kap Bambino to The KVB, Night Beats and R. Missing, have assimilated Siouxsie's influence into their own sound. However, one of the most exciting tracks on the album actually came from a former member of Siouxsie's band, Jon Klein, who teamed up with veteran post-punker Jah Wobble on a jaw-dropping version of "Monitor."

Originally released on the now classic album Juju (1981), an album recorded prior to Klein's entrance into Siouxsie's coven, "Monitor" laid down the blueprint for a musical style that combined the sinister energy of punk rock with the complex subtleties of art rock. Klein and Wobble's version turns the ragged power of Juju's guitarist John McGeoch into a massive wall of distortion while stunningly incorporating Asian influences courtesy of Chinese harpist and the track's vocalist Yijia Tu. It's a feat that only these two musical wunderkinds could pull off, and certainly the kind of sonic alchemy that Siouxsie herself could appreciate.

Klein, reflecting on his many performances of the song as a Banshees, adds "'Monitor' was always one of my favourite songs to play. On tour, we would sometimes ask the road crew to vote for which song should be the show's encore. The crew (AKA the Road Filth) would always vote for 'Monitor'."

Spellbound - A Tribute To Siouxsie & The Banshees is available now on all formats including CD, vinyl and digital.

TRACK LIST:
1. Hong Kong Garden - Kap Bambino
2. Cities In The Dust - Night Club
3. Monitor - Jah Wobble & Jon Klein
4. Night Shift - Nouvelle Vague
5. Spellbound - R. Missing
6. Dear Prudence - La Scaltra
7. Happy House - Black Nail Cabaret
8. Halloween - Babychaos
9. Peek-A-Boo - Skold
10. Kiss Them For Me - The KVB
11. Christine - Viva La Fete
12. The Passenger - Xiu Xiu