Review: Strange Boutique – The Collection 1988-1994

STRANGE BOUTIQUE
THE COLLECTION 1988-1994

Metropolis

Faith and the Muse is certainly a fine band with their ethereal rock and theatricality, but I’ve always felt that Monica Richards’ best work was locked in a secret capsule called Strange Boutique. The sound isn’t all that far removed from Faith and the Muse; I always felt like William Faith was doing his very best Fred “Freak” Smith tribute on the guitar, and why not when it worked so well in the first place? Strange Boutique’s Siouxsie, All About Eve and the 80s dark pop of Killing Joke mixture was intriguing and still sounds fairly fresh. The Collection doesn’t quite live up to the Banshees, but it does present enough evidence that perhaps the best American contribution to dark wave didn’t come from L.A. They even almost pull off their cover of Bowie’s “Heroes.”

 

This review originally appeared in Glitter Gutter Trash, August 2004, Issue 188.