Music Review: The Creatures - Anima Animus

This week's Music Review looks at one portion of the great Siouxsie Sioux's music career, the experimental rock side project with fellow Banshees member Budgie, The Creatures.

Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie of The Creatures

The Creatures was a side project Sioux and Budgie ventured into in 1981 during the recording of the Juju album from their main band, Siouxsie and the Banshees. By accident, the two discovered that having only vocals and drums to the track "But Not Them" was an amazing combination. This led to the first Creatures EP, Wild Things. The Creatures was always an on and off again side project for the two as their primary focus was on Siouxsie and the Banshees until the main group's big split in 1996. After that, The Creatures released two more albums, Anima Animus and Hai! The Banshees went on to reunite in 2002 for a massive tour before splitting again. With 2007 seeing Sioux and Budgie divorce, all musical partnership between the two ended, effectively marking the end of Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Creatures forever (or at least until they are able to reconcile).

Anima Animus, released in 1999, may have been the second to last Creatures album, but it is most likely my favorite Creatures album. It is also, I believe, the one from which the most songs appeared on the Dreamshow DVD from 2004's performance at the Royal Albert Hall (I'm not going to count, so someone may correct me if they wish).

The album title refers back to an idea from Carl Jung regarding transgender: the woman inside the man, the man inside the woman. I suppose you could interpret some lyrics in the songs to relate back to this, but given that the album had two prior names before it was decided as Anima Animus, I'm not sure if the intent of Sioux and Budgie was to relate songs to title.

The starting track, "2nd Floor," has an urgency to it. And is very catchy. The phrases Sioux sings are really short, leaving the track to be more focused on the techno-esque music (heavier on the -esque than the techno). This also happened to be the first single from the album. I'm not sure if this is my favorite from the album, but it's damn close if it isn't! Here is the music video for the song:

"Disconnected" is another great song with really cool instrumentation. What I mean here is that in certain parts, after Siouxsie finishes some lyrics, the music emphasizes those pauses (ex. right before the lyrics "And when you're feeling glad/Alaska shows her greedy hand").

I'll skip to the end as I don't have much to say about the rest of the album. Don't get me wrong. This isn't me saying the remainder of the album is mediocre or even bad. Several of those songs are worth a good listen ("Say," "I Was Me," "Prettiest Thing," and "Exterminating Angel," to name my big favorites). Instead, I want to look a little into "Don't go to Sleep Without Me."

This is by far the creepiest song. Is it bad? Far from it. But could you imagine just jamming along to the entire album with strong drum parts and a massive sense of urgency only to reach the final song where a slow, eerie guitar in the background accompanies Siouxsie essentially whispering in your ear? Yeah, a little creepy. But the complete change from the rest of the album is a pleasant deviation and really genius, in my opinion. Let me know your thoughts. Here's a fan video of the song:

I am a firm believer that whatever Siouxsie is a part of, it will be amazing. Her work with Siouxsie and the Banshees has been both ground breaking and unforgettable. The Creatures was a fairly different and unique side project, yet still incredibly important. Her one solo album from 2007 is crying for more siblings (which she has hinted in a recent interview a couple months ago of a new album or project of some sort). Obviously, Anima Animus is a winner in my book.


Rating: 5 of 5

More information: The Official Webstore for Siouxsie and the Banshees
(there is no official website for either Sioxusie and the Banshees or The Creatures or her solo career)