The Creatures, 1990

"Charmingly coolly different"

To mark the publication of Budgie’s memoir The Absence, here’s a review of the Creatures.

The group was a spin-off from Siouxsie and the Banshees, comprising just Siouxsie and Budgie, who at the time were a couple both professionally and personally.

This was a hometown gig, because Budgie started his musical career with the legendary Liverpool punk bands the Spitfire Boys and Big in Japan. Many of the latter went on to bigger things, including the Lightning Seeds, KLF and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

I interviewed Budgie for the Liverpool Echo in advance of this gig and he recalled: “You can’t think it’s going to happen, but it was definitely a strong group of people and they all had the ambition for it. I always thought Ian Broudie was going to do it, and Holly was too much of a character not to.”

He expands on this in his book and I loved his pen pictures of the very different personalities in Big in Japan and how they interacted – Jayne Casey, ahead of the times and “the de facto figurehead for Liverpool”; Bill Drummond, “earnest and passionate”; Ian Broudie, serious about music and “knew what he was doing”.

The three chapters on the Eric's scene in Liverpool add another layer to the stories we've heard in memoirs by Holly Johnson, Julian Cope, Pete Burns and, more recently, Will Sergeant, Ian Broudie and Paul Simpson. (And if you want a female perspective, my own book is out in February. Just saying.)

THE CREATURES

LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY

Melody Maker, March 3 1990

THERE is something beautifully simple about the idea of just a voice and a drum kit. There's something beautiful about The Creatures but it's not as simple as the idea. Yet what you get still seems simple, despite the understanding of unseen sophistication.

Siouxsie sweeps the stage as elegant and exotic as the music. Budgie wanders in white from drumkit to drumkit and somehow earns a few laughs on the way. Behind them, images of hands clap and lips kiss and trumpets burst into song. In front of them, rows of tall men unconsciously echo the images of "Standing there". It’s all very simple.

Siouxsie and Budgie go intimate? It’s an odd idea, and an attractive one, after the spectacle and distance of the last Banshees tour, and the spectacle and distance long associated with Siouxsie. A clublike crush adds a new dimension to the proceedings. Snatched glimpses of the music makers reflect the unseen sources of snatches of sound.

Budgie's percussive orchestra adds new meaning to "one man band". Even Siouxsie's voice can't match its variations. "Untied Undone" is a perfect example of The Creatures' less-is-more sensuality; "Willow" is stripped down to blues; "Mad Eyed Screamer" is rhythmic enough for dancers; "Fury Eyes" playful and sinister; and the Dr-Who-meets-Goth of "Pluto Drive" is hailed like a hit.

The sounds are as evocative as what you don't see, and the hidden complexities of the process as evocative as the sounds. Something about the use of machines matches the coolness of the Creatures; and something about using machines also gives a sense of risk that matches what's beneath the surface of the songs. Creating The Creatures on stage means something that feels charmingly coolly different and something quite accessible at the same time. It's difficult to be different. It's even more difficult to be different and intimate too. And Siouxsie says at the end, "You should have seen us yesterday, everything went wrong", and "Thanks, you've been great" and you can't get much more accessible, or much more simple, than that.

Watch the Creatures

Here are Siouxsie and Budgie doing Fury Eyes, their 1990 single (taken from their album Boomerang).