Left to right: Chris, Siouxsie, Emily, Sean
A four-piece Los Angeles-based Rock/Punk/Post-Hardcore band consisting of Emily Armstrong (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Sean Friday (Drummer), Siouxsie Medley (Lead Guitar) and Chris Null (Bass). While a relatively new act, they had a minor hit with "Weatherman". Also, a few of their songs were featured on The Vampire Diaries and in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012) and inFAMOUS: Second Son.
Discography
- The Airport Sessions (2008)
- Dead Sara (2012)
- Pleasure to Meet You (2015)
- Ain't it Tragic (2021)
The band has examples of the following tropes:
- The Alcoholic: In "Timed Blues" Emily sings that "I used to spend my time alone/at the bottom of a bottle/where I thought I could find a friend".
- All Drummers Are Animals: Sean Friday actually averts this, being more a Deadpan Snarker and a goofball than a wild man drummer. That's not to say he doesn't go crazy, but he doesn't stand out in the wild department for this band.
- Ambiguously Gay: While Emily has not spoken publicly about her sexuality, she is currently and openly involved with (as in, posts pictures on social media of, and directs terms of romantic endearment at) a woman.
- Anti-Love Song: "I Said You Were Lucky" falls into this, with lines like "Where's the love that you had?" and "We suffocated endlessly".
- A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: This is the setting for the music video of "Mona Lisa", though it's more John Waters than Project X (2012).
- Author Appeal: Lyrical self-loathing seems to be a cohesive theme in their work. In none of the songs does Emily let herself off easy.
- Bifauxnen: Emily is known to dress in such a fashion on occasion, but the standout is her attire in the band's video for "Something Good", where she rocks a dress shirt and a loose tie.
- Emily has actually said the only time you'll ever see her in a dress is in a music video for Beck.
- Break Up Song: "Face to Face" has the line "It's nice to know you love me, I'm in love with someone else" so that seems like a pretty clear example of that.
- Careful with That Axe: Several songs show that Emily can scream with the best of them.
- Christmas Songs: They composed one called "Snow in Los Angeles".
- Cool Shades: Emily usually wears them during interviews.
- Cover Version: They did a studio one of "Heart Shaped Box" and a live staple is "Killing In The Name". They've also done bits of "Dazed and Confused" in the bridge of "Lemon Scent". Also, they paid tribute to Jane's Addiction with "Jane Says". "Sliver" is another song that they've covered at least once.
- Epic Rocking: Not as much with their studio work, but their live shows can get rather jammy.
- Fading into the Next Song: The last two tracks on Pleasure to Meet You; "Feel Right At Home" segues straight into "For You I Am".
- Fan Community Nickname: A couple of superfans refer to themselves as the Deadicated and it has kind of taken off.
- Game-Breaking Injury: Siouxsie suffered broken ribs which forced them off Warp Tour, apparently they were from her swinging her (rather heavy) guitar around every night and since she's rather small, the injuries mounted up and they had to stop touring while they waited for her to recover. That's right, she got hurt from rocking too hard.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Two girls and two guys.
- Genre Throwback: To Grunge and 90s Chick Rock on their first album. Their second has a touch of 70s folk.
- Genre Roulette: While they are clearly a rock band, they hit almost every genre within it, this especially shines through on their Self-Titled Album, where they go from Hard Rock/Heavy Metal on "Weatherman" and "Lemon Scent" to confessional ballads on "Dear Love" or "Face to Face" or "Sorry For It All" and straight Punk Rock on "Monumental Holiday" to Blues Rock on "Timed Blues". They also do a pretty traditional cover of the Rap Metal "Killing In The Name" and a folk/country "Snow In Los Angeles".
- And on Pleasure To Meet You they add Psychedelic Rock (of the Queens of the Stone Age Stoner Rock variety) with "Mona Lisa". "Something Good" is 70s folk and "Mr Mr" is more Blues Rock with a Hendrix-esque guitar solo.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Siousxsie and Emily have been friends and musical partners for nigh on a decade and have made allusion to going through a lot together. The song "We Are What You Say" is apparently about their relationship (specifically making amends and apologizing). Chris and Sean have known each other from at least their early 20s so its fair to assume that they probably qualify as well.
- Hot-Blooded: The band in general, but Emily in specific is extremely high energy while performing.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: While Chris and Sean aren't exactly huge, Siouxsie is quite small.
- Non-Appearing Title: "Timed Blues".
- Older Than They Look: Medley is only one year younger than Emily, but as Emily said, "She just turned 25, but she still looks 16."
- Pretty Fly for a White Guy: A really minor example, but Sean Friday has found success in a solo capacity as a producer for hip-hop.
- Real Rockers Listen to Disco: Emily is an admitted disco fan.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: On stage, Emily is the Red, jumping around and extremely emotional as she alters between screaming and soft, pretty vocals, Siouxsie is the blue, rooted, grounded and keeping the songs together as Emily goes crazy.
- Self-Empowerment Anthem: "Weatherman" seems to be this, as it's ode to the ultra-radical Weather Underground (hey, nobody says that it needs to be peaceful self empowerment).
- Signature Headgear: Part of Emily's stage getup is a fedora.
- Silly Love Songs: A somewhat unconventional one is "Childhood Courtesy" which is about how much Emily loves... her mom.
- Soprano and Gravel: Emily can do this all by herself, going from sweet and melodic on "Dear Love" to engaging in an honest to god Metal Scream in "Baby Rock".
- Something Blues: "Timed Blues".
- Something Person: "Weatherman" is possibly about the Weather Underground.
- Shout-Out: Averted, Medley's name is a reference to her Native American great-grandparent, not Siouxsie and the Banshees.
- But the name Dead Sara comes from a misheard lyric of a Fleetwood Mac song.
- And "Weatherman" is apparently a reference to the Weather Underground...maybe.
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: Though they don't really have a distinctive sound because they only have two albums under their belt, "Sorry For It All" is much softer than a band that embodies many, many aspects of the Punk Rock aesthetic. It does build up to a proper rock song halfway through.
