Sometimes albums fall into your lap and other times you scrape around. In April, Young Fathers was a slam-dunk and is still one of my favourite albums of the year. In late 2022, Hot Chip could be my only choice. Yet in summer 2023, I was caught between a few stools. Albums coming up from Blur (mid-July) and the pop of Girl Ray (early August) fell just outside the window of opportunity. In the end, it came down to two: Yuksek’s sun-drenched Dance O Drome and the leftfield synth nihilism of Creep Show. I love Yuksek, and have done for years, and it’s going to be one of my good times albums of the year, but in all its brilliance, I’m not sure how much we’d have to say about a chuggy, summery disco-pop dance album. So, Creep Show it was.
But Creep who? They weren’t a band I was aware of, but even after my ears were pricked by the involvement of John Grant, on further inspection it became more of a ‘why on earth haven’t I heard of Creep Show before now? The four piece reeks of musical invention, with Grant nestling next to Wrangler, a trio made up of Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder, legendary synth warlock Ben ‘Benge’ Edwards, and Tunng’s Phil Winter. When TINH worlds collide…. And when I gave it a listen it really did tick a lot of my boxes immediately: rich John Grant vocals: check (see Matinee). Synth weirdness: check (try Moneyback). Sparse arrangements: check (The Bellows). Bleak lyrics: check (Bungalow). Jaded worldview: definite check (hi, Wise). It really got its clutches into me from the off, and while I was still trying to decide on the August album, when I woke up one day humming its tracks it was all the indication I needed.
So what do you get? It’s just the right mix of sleaze, perfectly pitched arrangements and an intriguing blend of obtuse lyrics, with sonic obliqueness that just seems to hang together. And given its members, you can hear real craftsmanship underneath the headline-grabbing songs. It’s also worth noting Yawning Abyss is their second album. The first – Dynamite – came out 5 years ago, and is distinctly more wonky than this. It’s definitely worth a listen just to see the pathway between the two, as while hardly a soft sonic experience, Yawning Abyss is certainly more approachable.
The band came together off the back of a night celebrating 40 years of Rough Trade at the Barbican, where artists new and old performed (Hot Chip and Scritti Politti were also on the bill) and while Grant and Mallinder already knew each other, it all evolved from that night. There’s a nice alchemy across the four too, with Grant not just committing vocals – and Mallinder accompanies him in the arrangements too – but also keyboards, with drums, bass, and synths across Winter and Benge, all concocted by the latter’s array of vintage gear at his Memetune Studio in Cornwall. But it takes more than just warm 80s synths and drum machines to make good music but – in Benge’s words in an interview around their debut, “you turn on some of these things they kind of put out half a track before you manage to turn it off again [laughs] and then you refine it and add bits or take stuff out” – there’s a nice unstructured element to how the music can come together. But make no mistake, this album is no ramshackle affair. It’s tighter than a new violin string, with lush layers that envelop and a committed ability to fuck up Grant’s voice as much as possible. Because, while it’s a loose lineage to his (in my opinion) brilliant solo albums Pale Green Ghosts (made with Icelandic dance-poppers Gus Gus, and one I brought to this pre-pod blog back in 2013) and Grey Tickles And Black Pressure, melding Grant’s silken voice with electronica, this is a notable step further away from that.
There is a concerted effort to break up the richness in his distinctive vocals, a wish to remove any smoothness that may have sounded too ‘right’ over some of the slick, gossamer-thin percussion and melodies and warm synth notes and it’s something that marks out the album as sounding a good stride away from just a John Grant solo project with some cool musicians behind him. It’s also helpful that Wrangler are already a fully-formed outfit, and you can hear that in the quality of the arrangements that sound so well-honed. Take Moneyback as an example. This dystopian paen to fraud, lies and pyramid schemes roughs up the vocals, distorts the perfection. Matinee almost fires a gun through them, vocoded and then stuttered into sections, and it’s a clever gambit, as it adds them as further melody and rhythm, and shows there’s much more scope to music when you are willing to mess with the normal (something we also found pleasing in less extreme ways in EBTG’s Fuse when Tracey Thorn’s voice was also manipulated).
Is it a concept album? Perhaps, perhaps not. But its loosely-formed focus on a near-present world where the darkness is embraced (try the title track’s jaunty “Come jump with me into the maw of the big, yawning abyss / Don’t be silly now, you know you’ve always wanted this”) is just another means to give a wide pallet of material to work with. Its world is much more Back To The Future 2 meets Black Mirror than the cool futurism of Blade Runner. There’s a bit of joy to the embracing of the underbelly or society’s less alluring landscapes. Grant and Mallinder both sound like they’re having a hell of a time living in it too.
It’s a neatly-boxed 9 tracks and 41 minutes. And doesn’t really take any missteps. Away from the more sleek tracks, and away from the rest of the album, Yahtzee could grate, but it’s actually one of my favourite tracks on the album, where all the motifs are taken to extremes, Grant’s vocals smashed to bits with distortion and effects, as he chirps about playing ‘peeknuckle’ (whatever that is) while “I loosen your buckle” and Yahtzee “while the Nazi’s tear our nation apart”. Cheery! The only part that feels slightly self-indulgent is the six minutes of Steak Diane, which while it’s really listenable low-slung sleaze, perhaps could be half its length, but it also slips by each time when I listen to it, and the reprise of the Bellows turns around into the opening track and we go again. In Joey’s words ‘I find I’m into my second listen so easily’.
I’m interested to see what the rest of the gang make of it. I’m fully into ‘singing it when I wake up’ territory, and that is always the sign of an album that’s got its hooks into me. Its crept up on me without me putting up a fight, and I now really enjoy coming back to it, even as it fights with Blur, Yuksek, Julie Byrne and the rest. I can see bits of it really clicking with each of you (bleakness, edgy synths, hi Joey, strange pop perhaps David, the dancier stuff with Nolan) but I’m not sure if you’ll feel the same as I do. But isn’t that the joy of this all? All hail Creep Show!
thisisnothappening.net 
When we reviewed John Grant’s ‘Pale Green Ghosts’ in 2013 I remember thinking ‘This is the whole point of us doing this blog, we help each other learn about amazing music and artists’. Produced by one of my favourites GusGus (Birgir Þórarinsson) it was a well orchestrated mix of new sounds with familiar touch points… and even had Sinead O’Connor providing backing vocals. Though not his first album, it for me was the album that pushed him into the hipster limelight (which I have always suspected was largely due to our then 5 blog readers finding out about the album through us). Though he has since released 5 further albums, had numerous guest appearances and dropped a couple cheeky EP’s I’ve yet to find the connection with his further releases as I did with ‘Pale Green Ghosts’.
I was excited when this album was picked; the thought of welcoming an old friend back into your life is always a nice. Ahead of listening to the album for the first time I had a quick look at Metacric; ‘Yawning Abyss’ had a solid score of 84, with 6 critic reviews. My hopes were high; though I wasn’t aware of previous works of the Creep Show project.
After the first listen, I was really disappointed.. and really didn’t enjoy the experience. I returned to Metacritic to delve into the ratings and found these review quotes:
Uncut said it was ‘infectious’, starting off well. Mojo said it was ‘A furiously funky soundtrack to impending doom’, erm OK? With the review from The Quietus I started to worry; ‘Creep Show’s second album Yawning Abyss reaches further into your soul, and once there, it really gets to work, rummaging furtively and stealthily metastasising. The more spins, the more you submit to its charms.’ AllMusic said ‘At once more serious and more playful than Mr. Dynamite, Yawning Abyss homes in on what Creep Show do best, and the ways they skewer corruption and indifference are a treat for fans of any of the artists involved and for anyone else who enjoys eloquent, darkly humorous electronic pop.’ Lastly musicOHM.com ‘Although Yawning Abyss is a tad more conventional than Mr Dynamite, it’d be fair to assume Creep Show will remain an acquired taste for some. But for those who have no qualms about stepping into their sometimes oppressive, sometimes sleazy-sounding world, you may not want to step back.’ Which felt like it hit the nail on the head.
I’ve knuckled down with the album, and I admit that it has started to grow on me, though I find it a grind. At the time of writing, this is where I’m at (good and bad):
The Bellows – From a distance, this is the John Grant I loved from ‘Pale Green Ghosts’, though there are hints of an unfinished song when you look under the bonnet.
Moneyback – This is the first (but not the last) that sounds like a song from Flight of The Concords but isn’t funny. Side note… choices and devices don’t rhyme.
Yawning Abyss – Has grown on me over time. It grates a bit in headphones but is OK in the background.
Matinee – The is one of the tracks that over time has grown on me. It executes the fine line between smooth and strange with perfection.
Wise – I really like this song. It reminds me of Tiga… though some of the lyrics are questionable.
Yahtzee – This may be the worst song I have ever heard in my life. There is no album context to it…. It’s horrible.
Bungalow – From first listen, I found this song really enjoyable.
Steak Diane – I like this, I don’t like the name and how it’s used as a vocal. I know this sounds like I’m splitting hairs, but the use of the sample saying ‘Steak Diane’ feels a bit throw away. It wrecks the songs for me. It’s not the style of sample (I like this), it’s the words they used.
The Bellows Reprise – I like this, and it gives a great wrap around to the album.
Musically there are many elements I like / could love. Long synths are one of my favourite things and so are tactical wonky vocals. There are few albums that we have reviewed that I have had to try so hard with as this one; which I will continue to do. I think this is an acquired taste. I fear that it may be a bit too odd for me.
I’m a big fan of John Grant, I think Queen of Denmark and Pale Green Ghosts are amongst the finest albums of the 21st Century – and the leap that he made from the analog/piano based balladeering of the first album to the cool electro of the second was amazing! But I must admit that I’ve been less engaged with some of his later output, which felt like a bit of a retread of his earlier material.
At his heart though, what I love about Grant is that he’s an emotional big bear of a man, plumbing his feelings and throwing them into that incredible baritone, so he’s able to deliver wonderfully barbed lyrics that sounds like treacle honey.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this collaboration, having never heard anything about it, but I must admit something that is almost sacrilege to say, especially amongst Factory-loving indie kids of a certain age – I always thought Cabaret Voltaire were crap. I didn’t like either of their incarnations – their abrasive early industrial stuff just sounded discordant and tuneless, and their later forays into dance/electro led stuff didn’t work for me because, in all honesty, it just sounded like a watered down version of everything else that was so much better.
So I was little trepidatious about the other part of this collaboration being Stephen Mallinder of CV, and alas, with good reason. I can’t remember the last time I struggled to connect so much with an TINH album of the month. I’ve listened to it loads, and normally there comes a moment where you suddenly connect, and with the exception of one track (the excellent title track), it just hasn’t happened.
So why is that? I’ve been trying to work it out. I think it boils down to a few key elements of me. One is that a lot of the songs are not much more than abrasive grooves (in an early Cabaret Voltaire style!). They don’t, for me, go anywhere and they’re not musically interesting enough to spend time with without grating.
The second, and by far biggest problem for me personally, is that I find Grant’s collaborator, Mallinder, a huge turn off as a vocalist. “Shouty agit prop” is probably right at the top of the list of styles of vocal delivery I don’t enjoy, and though, thankfully Grant is used more frequently, I find Mallinder’s contributions a big problem. Stop shouting slogans at me! That also applies musically – there’s nothing on here that I haven’t heard on Cabaret Voltaire records over the years – beats nicked off early hip hop and electro with discordant synth stabs over the top. It feels quite dated, and I’m surprised that Grant is so enamoured of it, to be honest. It also does nothing to showcase his wonderful voice, which is either swathed in vocoder or buried in a very heavy mix.
I did have higher hopes when the album started. The Bellows, though nothing original, has a nice Pale Green Ghosts synth line, and Grant’s vocoder vocal is fun, but it just doesn’t justify its 5 minute length, and by the end of it, the heavy-handedness of the vocoder vocal begins to wear thin. It’s the next track, Moneyback, where things really go downhill. I’m really sorry, but I think this might be the worst track I’ve heard all year. Sorry! Mallinder’s vocals (why the fuck is talking in an American accent, he’s from Sheffield?!!!) features rapped lines like ‘Big in crypto currency’, in case you’re wondering what he thinks about capitalism. It sounds exactly like a CV song from 1979, and as we’ve established, that’s not my bag.
And then, suddenly, it’s Yawning Abyss, and suddenly we’re in a gloriously 80s sounding tune with sunny synths and Grant driving the song forward in his most delightful wayl. And I had a glimpse of what this collaboration could have been if there had been more, well, actual songs on it. I LOVE this song so much, and I’m not gonna lie, I sometimes spin it and skip some of the rest. And that’s about it for highlights for me, sadly. I won’t review the rest of the album, other than to say I quite like the downbeat Bungalow, and let’s just say that Yahtzee is another extremely, extremely challenging thing to get through.
So yeah, I’m afraid this just doesn’t work for me as an album, or as a collaboration. I’m fascinated by the excellent reviews it’s getting, but maybe it’s just that, like Nolan, it’s just not for me. But I am frustrated more than anything listening to it, because I do wonder that with a bit more song craft and a bit more musical nous, whether they could have created something much more appealing.
I suspect that Grant is bored of being so tuneful and melodious and this feels like an enjoyably edgy side project, and I do get that. Anyway, I’m laughing at the idea of the ageing agitprop Cabaret Voltaire singer wanting to take notes from TINH’s resident Pop Being: indeed I’m sure he’d rightly tell me to fuck off and that he likes being uncompromising. Good for you, mate, fight the good fight! I’m off to listen with something with a tune 😉
Hi guys. Great write-up Guy and great reply Nolan. My thoughts, in my traditional bullet-point, half thought out, poorly written style …
– This is an interesting choice of album … by which I mean I don’t expect Nolan or David to like it.
– I know why you chose it Guy. I get it.
– I think, I think, it’s as good as you think it is.
– But I don’t think I am enjoying it as much as you are.
– Which is not to say that I am not enjoying it.
– (FFS this is hard work isn’t it?)
– Bloody hell it’s bleak.
– I’ve actually really struggled to listen to this when the world seems to be on fire and the fascists are literally taking over. I have had to take very conscious breaks from it.
– I am finding myself having to consciously chose to listen to it.
– And I find I am doing this in quite a cautious fashion. But when I do, I enjoy it much more than I expect to enjoy it.
– I think it’s very John Grant. I am no expert on Mr. Grant. My main experience with him is Pale Green Ghosts, I think there are lost of parallels here. He is in some ways an over-riding influence to the experience of listening to this. Perhaps if I knew Creep Show better I might not feel this?
– Bloody hell, was Pale Green Ghosts 10 years ago?
– Bloody hell it’s bleak.
– I am in love with the line ‘When the rockets leave their silos, you’ll be checking up on your follows’
– I love that Bellows opens the album and reprise closes it, it is a lovely bookend wrap around and works really well
– Guy, I agree Steak Diane should be 3 mins long. Nolan I agree, the lyric is silly.
– Nolan, I know why you hate Yahtzee … but I actually quite like it. I think it has loads of album context.
– Bloody hell it’s bleak.
– Stand out tracks, Bellows, Matinee, Moneyback and Bungalow.