Very rarely does a band completely consume my attention like Creeper does. I’ve admittedly only been listening to them for about three months, but in that short time, I’ve acquired their entire discography and listen to them on a daily basis.
It seems like I stumbled upon them at the perfect time, as their first full-length album, Eternity, In Your Arms, was released in late March of this year. In fact, my first dose of Creeper came from the song, “Hiding With Boys”, which was their second single off the album. Something about the mixture of horror punk imagery with pop punk lyrics and soaring choruses made their sound very digestible for me, as someone who comes from a diverse music background.
Eternity, In Your Arms holds nothing back. Awash in angst, heartbreak, and loneliness, this album throws you through alternating loops of ripping punk riffs and reticent bridges. Frontman, Will Gould, provides an equilibrium all throughout, then climbs into sweeping melodies over matching guitars to create these incredible earworm arena rock choruses. It also features a handful of songs that serve as well-placed breathers, one of which, “Misery”, we saw on their The Stranger EP. We also get to hear more of keyboardist, Hannah Greenwood, who serenades us with the emotional track, “Crickets”, and provides backing vocals on several other songs here.
I’m also quite pleased with whatever mixing magic they conjured up in the studio, because I have no trouble picking out the individual instruments as I listen to each song. It’s unfortunate that the bass guitar is historically infamous for getting buried under walls of guitar and drums, but in this case, both the bass and the keys are crystal clear, and that makes me happy. Support equal rights for bassists, man, they deserve to be heard.
I’ve heard more times than I can recall that Creeper is the future of rock music, and I have no trouble accepting that as fact. Having a catalog of 25 songs that can all stand on their own usually signifies that a band knows what they’re doing when they sit down to write new tunes. I wish nothing but success for these guys (and gal), and I trust they’ll continue to climb the ranks and whip up songs that end up wedged in my brain for days.
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