Feast [debut]release date: May 20, 1983
format: vinyl (SHELP 1) / digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Mike Hedges, The Creatures
label: Wonderland / Polydor - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: A) 3. "Ice House" - 4. "Dancing on Glass" - 5. "Gecko" - - B) 2. "Festival of Colours" - 3. "Miss the Girl"
Studio album debut by the duo The Creatures, consisting of Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie, vocalist and drummer respectively in Siouxsie and the Banshees (SATB). The album is the first on newly formed label Wonderland (started by SATB) and it's produced by Mike Hedges, previously credited as sound engineer on A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982) by SATB, and as a producer already a high-profile name within the post-punk-related scene, where in '82-83 he produced for e.g. The Cure, Associates, The Beat, and The Undertones.
Musically, The Creatures are naturally closely related to SATB, but it's still a radically more experimental soundscape that you hear on Feast, with its distinct mix of the special easy-listening style of exotica with remnants and touches from exotic world music (here musically inspired by sounds and music from Hawaii) and art pop, and where more traditional rock instruments such as electric guitar and bass are replaced by that of percussion - instruments such as xylophone, pipe bells, vibraphone, marimba and the like, and with the incorporation of natural sounds (the special exotica impression) and vocal. Rumour has it that Sioux and Budgie used a globe before they had the tracks for the album - they spun the globe and with eyes closed one of them used a finger to stop spinning the globe, thus pointing at a random place which happened to be (close to) Hawaii - that approach then was the starting point for the music. The two traveled to the American state to find inspiration for the album, which in this way was given natural sound patterns and a distinctly exotic touch.
The album garnered good reviews and landed a nice 17th place on the UK albums chart, although part of the album's success is probably due to the familiarity of Siouxsie and the Banshees and the fact that Polydor saw the duo as potential hitmakers and spent some financial resources to help promote the band. And precisely to this notion, Feast doesn't exactly contain notable single hits. "Miss the Girl" was selected for sole single release and the track peaked at No. #21 on the singles chart. Two months later, The Creatures released "Right Now" as a single - a cover track originally from 1962 with music by Herbie Mann and lyrics by Carl Sigman, as song which is probably best known in Mel Tormé's version from the same year. That single became The Creatures' highest-charting single peaking at number #14 in the UK (none of the band's later releases charted similarly). Despite good reviews, where the duo garnered great praise for originality, I personally don't think that the album is all that convincing. Sioux sounds like herself, which is a quality in itself, and Budgie is an excellent percussionist who gets an opportunity to show his worth, but as a whole the album is more of an interesting curiosity with great originality than being close to a real masterpiece.
Mostly for collectors and fans of Siouxsie and the Banshees.
[ allmusic.com, Record Mirror 4 / 5 stars ]
