Dead Sara, Bouncy Siouxsie

If there is one instrument that stands above the rest in rock music, it’s the electric guitar. This is probably why I have a love/hate relationship with it. Often overused with obnoxious effects, or even worse, billions of notes a minute, there are songs that grate on my nerves because of the guitar parts. When the guitar takes centre stage, I prefer songs that have guitar parts that serve the song. Or songs that get you to bounce with the rhythm. This is why I love Siouxsie Medley’s approach to her instrument.

I’m not much of a fan of virtuoso playing with any instrument. I couldn’t care less if you can set the fretboard on fire with your fingers, what I want to hear is something that pulls me along, or has me bobbing. Let’s continue with “Weatherman” so as not to break the streak. The song starts with the seven-note riff (I think) and even when it’s not being played you will still hear it in your head. Try it. I’m pretty sure you’ll still hear the riff even when Bouncy Siouxsie is not playing it during the verse. And you’ll still be humming it hours later. It’s only seven notes (I think), not seven hundred which would require the lung capacity of a blue whale and the speed of a mongoose to whistle.

Riffs like the one played on “Weatherman” are a call to action. Action in writing doesn’t mean violence, it means something tense that drives the reader to turn the page. If I can’t make the reader turn the page, I’ve pretty much failed in my endeavour. So, every once in a while, I get a little help from a bouncy guitar riff when I feel like I’m running out of steam.

Next up… you know it’s Mighty Emily. But I’m going to introduce two other songs which I think do a better job of highlighting her voice.