Boomerang (The Creatures album)

Boomerang
Studio album by The Creatures
Released 6 November 1989
Recorded May 1989
Genre Alternative music, exotica
Label Polydor, Geffen (US)
Producer Mike Hedges
The Creatures
The Creatures chronology
Feast
(1983)		 Boomerang
(1989)		 Eraser Cut EP
(1998)
Siouxsie Sioux chronology
Peepshow
Siouxsie and the Banshees
(1988)		 Boomerang
(1989)		 'Superstition
Siouxsie and the Banshees
(1991)
Singles from Boomerang
  1. "Standing There"
    Released: 10 October 1989
  2. "Fury Eyes"
    Released: 19 February 1990
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Melody Makervery favourable[2]
NME8/10[3]
Record Mirror[4]

Boomerang is the second album to be released by British duo the Creatures (aka singer Siouxsie Sioux and musician Budgie). The album was recorded in Andalusia, Spain. It featured brass arrangements including trumpet, trombone and saxophone.

Boomerang received widespread critical acclaim from British music critics, who praised Siouxsie's vocals and the choice of a wide range of musical styles on the album, including blues, jazz and Spanish styles such as flamenco.

Music

Critics remarked on the musical diversity on the record, saying that it was "a varied collection of fine, if not earth-shaking work. Each of the 14 tracks has something different to offer".[5] "Manchild" features a "flamenco rhythmic inflexion and savannah sunset trumpets",[3] while the trumpet-tinged "Strolling Wolf" is an "Iberian-inspired piece".[1]

Blues and jazz elements are also displayed on the album,[1] such as on the bluesy "Killing Time"[5] and "Willow".[2] In a different style, "Pluto Drive" "marries a sassy low R&B base to futuristic ambient sound", with electronic loops.[1] "Pity" is a lullaby,[3] with Budgie playing Jamaican steel drums.[2]

Lyrics

Budgie explained the song "Manchild": "It's a story based in Colombia before the drugs cartel, it's about a small child caught up in a feud, this vendetta between his village and another rival village. In a minor way it is all about drug trafficking, but ends with the stronger village wiping out the whole male population of the other village until there was just one boy left called Nelsito. It was understood that he would live till he was at least 18 before he was assassinated, but he was shot on the way to school."

He also commented on "Willow": "It's kind of about how my mother died as it was a black area and I hadn't realised what had happened until I saw my brother. He told me what went on with the family and I never really knew until a year afterwards, and I wrote it down directly after that".

Reception and release

The album was released to critical acclaim. NME's Roger Morton qualified it as "a rich and unsettling landscape of exotica", praising "the pre-eminence of Budgie's Spanish-tribal-jazz drumming".[3] Simon Reynolds of Melody Maker stated that "Boomerang abounds with scarcely anticipated brilliance", qualifying it as "inventive and invigorated music".[2] Allmusic hailed Siouxsie's performance, saying: "Sioux's singing is some of her best both in and out of the Banshees, still retaining the shadowed mystery that she makes her own while drawing on an interesting range of styles".[1]

Boomerang was released in CD, vinyl and cassette formats by both Polydor and Geffen.

Legacy

"Killing Time" was covered live by Jeff Buckley several times between 1992 and 1995.[6]

Media

In 2008, "Standing There" was used by two dancers in the jazz category in the US television show So You Think You Can Dance.[7] In 2012, "You!" was chosen in season 9 of the same TV show.[8]

Track listing

  1. "Standing There" – 3:06
  2. "Manchild" – 3:50
  3. "You!" – 4:03
  4. "Pity" – 3:39
  5. "Killing Time" – 3:26
  6. "Willow" – 2:06
  7. "Pluto Drive" – 4:40
  8. "Solar Choir" – 2:52
  9. "Speeding" – 4:12
  10. "Fury Eyes" – 2:10
  11. "Fruitman" – 2:46
  12. "Untiedundone" – 3:41
  13. "Simoom" – 3:43
  14. "Strolling Wolf" – 4:27
  15. "Venus Sands" – 5:03
  16. "Morriña" – 2:49

Personnel

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Ned Raggett. "Boomerang – The Creatures". AllMusic. AllRovi. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Reynolds, Simon. Boomerang review. Melody Maker. 11 November 1989.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Morton, Roger. "Peek-A-Boom" [Boomerang review]. NME. 11 November 1989
  4. ↑ Nicholson, Tom. Boomerang review. Record Mirror. November 1989
  5. 1 2 Robert Payes/Ira Robbins/David Sheridan/Michael Azerra. "Creatures". Trouserpress.com. Retrieved 12 December 2015
  6. ↑ Untiedundone.com archives Jeff Buckley covered "Killing Time" at the radio station WFMU in its studio in East Orange, NJ, 10.11.92. "Killing Time" is a Siouxsie's song from the Creatures' Boomerang album. Buckley also performed it for his first major gig in London at The Astoria in January 1995.
  7. ↑ "So You Think You Can Dance, Standing There (jazz) - Courtney and Gev. "Fox tv" on "Youtube". Aired on 28 July 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2015
  8. ↑ "So You Think You Can Dance, Amelia and Will- You! (jazz) ". Fox.com on YouTube. Retrieved 29 December 2012
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