To welcome 2021, Liverpool’s The Banshees show us a masterclass in how to keep it fresh by reinventing their sound again. Point of You shows off The Banshees funky electro indie side, while retaining that deep musical intensity that struck me with this band’s releases throughout 2020. While there is something comfortingly 80’s about the overall sound, it has to be said I don’t think anyone back in those days did anything quite like this. The Banshees recreate and build upon the past. There may be banshees, but there are no walking dead here.  

With Point of You, The Banshees serve up a delicious blend of accessible funky notes, a beautifully swirling melody, and an intense vocal to lose your mind to. The song itself is about one of those horrible real-life experiences we all get to sooner or later; where you are on the edge of drifting away from someone or something that was once of importance to you.

I do like a pun, so the Point of You/Point of View thing hits the spot; people don’t change, but your opinion of them can. Suddenly you get a clarity, but it’s all just slowly rolling on and somehow you don’t have the energy or inclination to do anything about it. I wish this song had been around for the last 2 of the 5 years I shared with my previous partner; perhaps we would have spent less time talking about nothing, just filling spaces in time, as the song wisely suggests.

The Banshees are singer Vinny Pereira and guitarist Paul Holligan. Both musicians have a long career in music, and that experience and quality shines through. The band have been together for 2 years, and it feels that their winding road was made for the music they are producing now with The Banshees, and it will just take a spark for this band’s career to truly ignite big time.

The Banshees cite influences like Johnny Marr, The Cure and The Strokes to be in their DNA, and I think fans of all these bands would enjoy what the Banshees have to offer. In particular, I get a link with the dark side of a band like The Cure. With Point of You I rather get a Psychedelic Furs vibe (a band I adored back in the day). The Banshees tunes are very accessible, but it also often feels there is something intense locked within. This is top quality stuff here. 

Chris R    

* Images taken from the band’s social media