Creatures @ Point Éphémère, Paris - June 12th, 2019

Having never heard of the Creatures before, I was expecting some Nuggets-style Garage-Psych band for some reason. When they turned up in their pageant cowboy outfits (complete with pink trousers and bolo ties) I was immediately ready to hate them. I am getting increasingly fed up with irony in music, and it seems at first that they were almost a parody band or something from an overly precious Wes Anderson film. But it took only a few bars for them to win me over with their surreal country-pop, their knack for melody, their musicianship and their whole aesthetic.

There is no irony there. This is no act.The concepts and the costumes are not conceited: they are necessary elements for the band to tell their Lynchian stories and take you back to a time when Roy Orbison and the Hollies were on the radio. 

Of course, none of this would work if the songs weren't good. Thankfully, they are perfectly crafted and delivered with earnest conviction. On more than one occasion during their set I found myself thinking that these songs could have fit on Waylon Jennings' Love of the Common People... They're that good.

The lesson here is to keep your mind and your ears open... You can't judge book by looking at its cover and you can't judge a band by looking at their moustaches.