The Creatures

Lore & Background

The Creatures formed in 1981 when Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie discovered during a rehearsal for the Banshees' Juju album that the combination of voice and drums suited the track 'But Not Them'. They recorded five songs, with Budgie playing marimba and metallophone for the first time, and released the EP Wild Things, which reached No. 24 in the UK Singles Chart. Their debut album Feast (1983) was recorded in Hawaii after randomly placing a pin on a map; it reached No. 17 in the UK Albums Chart and featured the single 'Miss the Girl', inspired by J. G. Ballard's Crash.

Six years later, the duo reconvened in a stone barn in Jerez, Spain to record Boomerang (1989), an album blending blues, jazz, flamenco, and electronica. It received widespread critical acclaim, and the single 'Standing There' reached No. 4 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. After the Banshees ended in 1996, the Creatures collaborated with John Cale, released the Eraser Cut EP, and toured the US as a double bill with Cale. Their third album Anima Animus (1999) introduced an urban sound with guitars and synthesizers, described by The Times as 'adventurous art rock'. Their final album Hái! (2003) returned to their roots with Japanese minimalism, featuring taiko drummer Leonard Eto. The duo disbanded in 2005 after Siouxsie and Budgie divorced.

Reader's Guide

The Creatures' significance lies in their sustained exploration of percussion-driven music across a 24-year career, evolving from minimalist drum-and-voice experiments to complex fusions of exotica, blues, jazz, electronica, and Japanese minimalism. Their work was praised by artists including Jeff Buckley, PJ Harvey, and Anohni, and Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy name-checked them. The band's willingness to change direction—from the tropical exotica of Feast to the blues-jazz of Boomerang, the urban electronica of Anima Animus, and the Japanese minimalism of Hái!—demonstrated a restless creativity. Boomerang was later ranked at number 184 in Uncut magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of the 1980s. Their independent ethos, including the creation of their own label Sioux Records, and their influence on alternative and art rock musicians, cement their legacy as a distinctive and adventurous duo.

Did You Know?

• The Creatures formed by accident when Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie discovered that voice and drums suited the track 'But Not Them' during a Banshees rehearsal.
• The single 'Standing There' from Boomerang reached No. 4 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and stayed in the top 10 for 14 weeks.
• Their final album Hái! was built around a spontaneous drum duet between Budgie and Japanese taiko drummer Leonard Eto.