New Band of the Week: Creature

“Really fucking loud,” says Creature frontman Sam Avery when asked to describe his band’s sound, and he’s not far wrong. If you’ve been craving a fuzzy, grungey Nirvana-like sound for the last 20-odd years, then this exciting Newcastle trio are certainly the cure to your urges.

Awesome fuzzy guitar sounds are fused with Sam’s infectious vocals, completed by driving bass and drums from David Crammond Scott and Adam Hay respectively. The trio first formed when they ended up on the same lineup at the Alphabetti Theatre in Newcastle, then a couple of months later Sam heard they needed a new singer so he joined up and, a few lineup and name changes later, they’re here to stay.

Describing their music, Sam told us: “I guess we would usually describe it as ‘loud noise.’ It’s really it’s just a combination of fuzz and heavy playing. We like to keep things as raw as possible.”

The band has just released a couple of new tracks that sum up that rawness, and exemplify why we’re particularly excited about their potential. Most recently Nothing Special, released on 10 August, opens up with lone guitar sounds then explodes into a big smash of guitars, bass and smashing cymbals. Sam’s crooning, reverby vocals come in with palm-muted guitars, then a huge cry of “‘Cos you were always gonna hate me” launches us into the chorus with several repeats of those lyrics.

The second verse drops down into the quieter vocals and repeats that same line followed by “Cos I’m in my 20s” then quickly flows into another chorus, which leads into a little instrumental blitz. We’re dropped down into another light verse with bass support and light drums before bursting back into life with another repeat of the grungey chorus, then the song concludes with big vocals and wild sweeping high-pitched guitars. Check it out in the video below:

 

And prior to that, Bored kicks off with some awesome fuzzy guitar sound, reverby noise then dives into a big blast of guitar chords. A lively opening verse follows, with vocals answered by big hits of guitar then a few calls of “Yeah I’m bored,” which also form the basis of a catchy chorus. It’s fast and energetic, packed full of riffs, driving drums and awesome vocals – and we love it. Here’s the video for you to enjoy:

On the track, Sam tells us: “It came about when we first became a three piece and started working on new songs. It was actually one of the first songs we wrote together. We were tired of the way things had been going and we had all of this energy built up from not having anything to do for so long. That song kind of just happened right then and we’ve never looked back.

“It’s something we put together in a practice and recorded in a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. Don’t expect it to be perfect, but remember that it doesn’t really have to be.”

Perfect they may not be, but their energetic brand of music more than makes up for it, and tracks called Why Not A Disney Princess make them a fun, engaging band. Sam tells us: “Music has always been a big part of our lives and we’ve all played in bands since we were pretty young. Making music is all I ever wanted to do and I started up a band the first chance I got.

“It’s hard to say exactly what first made us want to be involved with music. It just makes sense and I don’t really look into it any further than that. I’m just glad we have it because I think we would all be lost without it.”

The band has, as their sound suggests, drawn influence from the Seattle scene led by Nirvana, Mudhoney, Tad and The Melvins but also local bands like Knuckle Dragger, Whores, 68′ and False Advertising, who they’re playing with in October.

And on the Newcastle music scene Sam explains: “The local music scene is immense. Every other night theres a new band playing with solid original material and it feels like it’s only getting better. It’s not only down to the bands though, we have some great venues and a lot of wonderful people working behind the scenes to bring everything together.”

 

There’s plenty more to come from Creature too, with lots of music recorded, some about to be and plenty more being worked on, plus plenty of gigs coming up. Even more excitingly, they’re also set to release an EP at the end of the year.

You can follow Creature on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on YouTube, Bandcamp and Spotify.