The Washington Daily (3.5.99)

The Creatures' 'Anima Animus'

By Dan Klempner

The Creatures have been around for almost twenty years now, but it's still difficult to judge their new material because the band has largely been characterized by the influence of the places in which they recorded.

Feast was recorded in Hawaii, and Boomerang was done in Spain.

These albums constitute, for the most part, the Creatures' sound. But both were influenced greatly by the musical traditions of the respective locations, which was a great benefit.

This element is missing from their new album Anima Animus, because the band just hung around London. Of course, this is probably why it's mainly an electronic album. The Creatures have always used electronic effects both for the music and for lead singer Siouxsie Sioux's voice, but this is the first album to fully incorporate contemporary electronic styles with their music. And they do it very well. The only shortcoming is that Anima Animus is not quite so ahead of its time like their earlier material.

That's not fair, though, because Anima Animus is really an excellent album by itself. The most captivating song is "Another Planet," which only needed about four seconds to amaze me. Other songs of note include "Prettiest Thing" and "Exterminating Angel," the latter produced by industrial group Juno Reactor.

It's all quite good, even though the music doesn't sound as fresh as it did in the past. I'm just really glad that Siouxsie hasn't become a caricature of herself in all the years she's been doing her thing. But I am worried that she might start to sound old soon ...

Contributed by Jerry Burch.