The Creatures

The Creatures
The Creatures in 1989. Left to right: Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Alternative, exotica, art rock
Years active	1981–2005
Labels	Polydor, Geffen, Sioux Records, Instinct Records
Associated acts	Siouxsie and the Banshees
Website	Official site
Members	Siouxsie Sioux Budgie

The Creatures were a band formed in 1981 by Siouxsie and the Banshees members Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie. With the dissolution of Siouxsie and the Banshees in 1996, the Creatures graduated from an occasional project to a full-time concern. The drum and voice duo released four studio albums: Feast in 1983, Boomerang in 1989, Anima Animus in 1999 and Hái! in 2003.

With Feast, the band dabbled in exotica.^[1] On Boomerang, they added a Spanish-tinged vibe to their music, with elements of flamenco, blues and jazz.^[2] In the late 1990s, they developed a more urban sound; The Times then described their music as "adventurous art rock built around Siouxsie's extraordinary voice and drummer Budgie's battery of percussion".^[3] In their last work, they returned to their roots while heading east, with an ode to Japanese minimalism. They disbanded in 2005.

Their music was hailed by Jeff Buckley^[4] and PJ Harvey.^[5]

Wild Things era (1981)

Singer Siouxsie Sioux and drummer Budgie created the Creatures in 1981 while recording the Banshees' Juju album. During one session, they discovered by accident that the combination of just voice and drums suited the track "But Not Them". A studio session was organized with the aim of recording five songs. This project was released in the form of an EP titled Wild Things. The title track was a reworking of a hit by the Troggs; the other numbers were Creatures compositions. The EP reached No. 24 in the UK Singles chart and the pair performed "Mad-Eyed Screamer" on Top of the Pops.

Feast era (1983)

In 1983, the Creatures released their first full-length album, Feast. The band decided where to record the album by randomly placing a pin on a map of the world. The result was Hawaii, which led to the Lamalani Hula Academy Hawaiian Chanters being featured on some tracks. Musically, the album was steeped in exotica and tropical backdrops.^[1] During the week of its release, the band were on the front cover of both Melody Maker and NME.^[6][7] Melody Maker described Feast as "an album of filtered brilliance, fertile, sensual and erotic",^[8] while NME said, "The humours of Sioux's frosty larynx are nakedly outlined against skins of sometimes fabulous quality".^[9] The album reached No. 17 in the UK Albums Chart. The hit single "Miss the Girl" took its inspiration from the book Crash by J. G. Ballard. Shortly after its exit from the charts, a follow-up, "Right Now", was recorded, a song that was initially performed by Mel Tormé. The Creatures revamped it by adding a brass section, and it became their most successful single, reaching the top 15.

Boomerang era (1989-1990)

The Creatures came back six years later. Siouxsie and Budgie went to a stone barn in Jerez, Andalucia, Spain to record Boomerang. Brass arrangements were used on some tracks and Anton Corbijn took colour pictures for the sleeve. The record was critically acclaimed^[10] and widely regarded as Siouxsie and Budgie's crowning achievement as the Creatures. NME wrote: "It's a rich and unsettling landscape of exotica".^[11] One of the bluesier songs on Boomerang, "Killing Time", was later covered live by Jeff Buckley.^[12][13] In late 1989, the Creatures made their live debut appearance on U.K television and went on tour shortly after for the first time, visiting Europe and North America. In 2012, the jazzy song "You!" would be used by two dancers in the US TV show So You Think You Can Dance.^[14]

Collaboration with John Cale and Eraser Cut EP (1996-1998)

When Siouxsie and the Banshees ended in 1996, the Creatures had already begun composing new material. At the same time, the long-out-of-print Wild Things EP and Feast album were remastered and re-released through the compilation A Bestiary Of.

In February 1998, former Velvet Underground member John Cale, then organizing the "With a Little Help from My Friends" festival at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, contacted the Creatures for a collaboration. The concert, shown on Dutch national television, featured an unreleased Creatures song, "Murdering Mouth", composed for the event and sung in duet with Cale.^[15] That night, the Creatures also premiered a live orchestra version of "I Was Me". From June to August, the pair toured North America as a double bill with Cale, playing yet unreleased material.

During that period, Siouxsie and Budgie created their own label, Sioux Records, and became an independent act. A stand-alone single, "Sad Cunt", was offered to attendees of two warm-up concerts in London in May prior to the North American tour.^[16] An EP, Eraser Cut (an anagram of the Creatures), then came out in July; Time Out described the songs as "short, sharp, percussive and infectiously atmospheric".^[17] In October, they promoted the single "2nd Floor" with a video shot in black and white.

Anima Animus era (1999-2002)

Early in 1999, the Creatures released Anima Animus, their first studio album in just under a decade. Its urban sound was an important departure from Boomerang's very organic atmosphere. The Times wrote: "It's entrancing, hypnotic and inventive",^[18] and peer PJ Harvey later selected Anima Animus in her 10 favourite albums released in 1999.^[19] Other singles from the album were "Say" (dedicated to Billy Mackenzie) and "Prettiest Thing". The song "Another Planet" was included on the soundtrack to the film Lost in Space in a version radically reworked by Juno Reactor. Live albums Zulu (recorded in London in 1998) and Sequins in the Sun (recorded at Glastonbury in 1999) were released on limited editions via the Creatures website.

In June, the Creatures appeared on Marc Almond's Open All Night; Siouxsie duetted with Almond and Budgie added percussion on the track "Threat of Love". In late 1999, the remix album Hybrids was issued, featuring remixes by other acts including the Beloved.

In 2000, a compilation of unreleased Anima Animus-era tracks was released as U.S. Retrace. It featured the B-side "All She Could Ask For", which was the opening number for all their concerts during that period. Three one-track CDs (a live "Murdering Mouth", "Rocket Ship" and "Red Wrapping Paper") were distributed to fan club members.

Hái! era (2003-2004)

Siouxsie and Budgie returned with a full-length album, Hái!, in 2003. The drum sessions were recorded in Japan less than 24 hours after the Banshees had completed their Seven Year Itch reunion tour. Budgie first worked with the Japanese taiko drummer Leonard Eto (previously of the Kodo Drummers), with their spontaneous drum duet forming the basis of the album. The rest of the sessions were done in France over a period of several months. The single "Godzilla!" was described as "spookily brilliant" by NME,^[20] and reviews were favourable for Hái!.^[21][22] The opening track "Say Yes" was used during trailers for the 2004 season of The Sopranos.^[23][24][25]

That same year, Siouxsie was asked to be the guest vocalist and lyricist on the Basement Jaxx's track "Cish Cash". It was included on their album Kish Kash, which won Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 47th Grammy Awards.^[26]

In 2004, Siouxsie toured for the first time billed as a solo act, but with Budgie still as drummer and musical arranger. The setlists combined Banshees and Creatures songs. A live DVD called Dreamshow documented the last London concert of September 2004 performed with the Millennia Ensemble. Released in August 2005, this DVD reached No. 1 in the UK music DVD charts.^[27]

Dreamshow was the last release by the pair, as Siouxsie announced publicly during a 2007 interview with The Sunday Times that she and Budgie had divorced.^[28] Their musical partnership was discontinued for the foreseeable future and the Creatures were disbanded.

Siouxsie celebrated her 50th birthday in May 2007, and released the first solo album of her career, Mantaray, in October 2007, to critical acclaim.^[29]

Discography

Main article: The Creatures discography

Studio albums

• Feast (1983)
• Boomerang (1989)
• Anima Animus (1999)
• Hái! (2003)

References

Sources

• Budgie. The Creatures Biography. The Creatures.com April 2000
• Paytress, Mark. Siouxsie & the Banshees: The Authorised Biography. Sanctuary, 2003. ISBN 1-86074-375-7

External links

• The Creatures + Siouxsie Official Website