My Creepy Susanne – Girl From Mars
My Creepy Susanne – Girl From Mars – EP Review
It has been about a couple years since we’ve heard some tunes from our friend Christos Kariotis from way over on the other side of the globe in Athens, Greece – so let’s change that today. We’ve featured the man’s music from his band Come Taste The Misery here on our pages a couple times throughout the years…we posted up a video for a single called “Wrong Side Of Heaven” in 2020, and reviewed an EP called House Of Silence towards the end of summer in 2021. We also learned that Come Taste The Misery had quite the catalog brewing online, but little did I know, Christos actually had a whole second band that had technically been releasing music even earlier, with the first full-length album from My Creepy Susanne called Wrong Side Of Darkness having come out back in 2016. I’m not sure this guy even has time to make a cup of coffee he’s been making music so consistently and constantly over the years! My Creepy Susanne resurfaced this year with a handful of new singles early this year before the release of their latest EP called Girl From Mars…and I think, if I’m not mistaken, you’re fully up to date.
So let’s push play, shall we? “Every Time” starts up the new record from My Creepy Susanne, revealing the dark Alternative style & sound we know Christos loves to dive into. From the furious pounding of the drums on the way in, to the grind of the guitars, to the steady bass lines guiding the rhythm, and the lead vocals on-point with a blend of murky & mysterious melody, “Every Time” creates an enticing start to the first record from the band in nearly seven years. A declarative return, musically, this band kind of reminds me of Bush in a way, yet the twist in the vocals seems to give it a noticeable difference. They have an earthy sound to the lead vocals, almost like something you’d expect out of Canada’s Junkhouse or something else from one of Tom Wilson’s projects…and I dig that. “Every Time” doesn’t end up moving at the lightning pace the intro implies that it might…it’s more measured and controlled than that overall…”there’s a fire in your bed,” but it’s a slow-burner at the same time, you follow me? To me, what worked wonders on this opening track was the harmonies and how they strengthen the main hook of the chorus. There are lots of noteworthy moments supplied by the guitars in this tune for sure, but it ended up really coming back to the main hook and the chorus vocals as to what made the most memorable impact on this opening tune. It’s a solid start without a doubt though…Alt/Rock fans will dig what My Creepy Susanne does and find no weak points in the band’s display of skills across the board.
“Girl From Mars” ended up being the second single from this EP as far as I can tell, complete with its own otherworldly video & all. Another reliable tune that packs in a heavy punch through the main hooks – My Creepy Susanne displays the consistency you wanna hear right away in the first two tracks – the kind that tells you that if you like what you hear in these opening cuts, you’ll essentially dig most if not everything that the band does. The main hook of “I think I love her” is supremely effective and sure to catch the right amount of attention from people out there listening…no doubt about how memorable that is in my opinion. I think where My Creepy Susanne is potentially taking a bit of risk is in the fact that they’re playing deep into the mid-tempo tunes…and it’s really tough to say whether or not that’s gonna pay off for them in the end. Listeners respond to fast cuts, listeners respond to slow jams, and famously, listeners are ultimately confused as hell when they come across mid-tempo tunes. With the band playing as well as they do together and keeping things tight on their end professionally, they give themselves a shot at breaking through to the masses, but it’s definitely something that I’d be conscious of if I were My Creepy Susanne. Mid-tempo is always a tougher sell when it comes right down to it, but that by no means implies it’s impossible. “Girl From Mars” kind of has this sleepy-meets-heavy dreamlike vibe to it, which is somewhat echoed through the lyrics as well…and they play it with real purpose and conviction…ultimately, people respond to that too, it just usually takes a bit longer to catch on. They’ve put together a really smart lyric video to give it an extra advantage in reaching ya, which gives “Girl From Mars” an additional artistic dimension that I think you’ll appreciate – check it out!
The mid-tempo tinge to it all gives the music of My Creepy Susanne somewhat of a gothic edge to their Alternative sound, and I could see people digging that once they give it a couple of spins. I found that the more I listened to Girl From Mars, the more I seemed to get my head around the sound they were going for. “Lords Of Chaos” is a great example of how to innovate their own vibe…you get what’s practically a spoken word performance throughout the verses, and for myself personally, that absolutely hit the mark, to the point where it was probably my favorite idea in any of the first three tracks. I don’t expect everyone out there to feel the same as I do – I’m just a huge fan of spoken word wherever I can find it…I’d be the first to admit that the real degree of accessibility comes through the chorus of “Lords Of Chaos.” What’s really interesting is how they surge forward into this part of the song with such an enormous amount of energy, yet they have absolutely remained in the mid-tempo range where they’re most comfortable pace-wise. It’s audibly deceiving when you listen to it, “Lords Of Chaos” gets so much bigger in the chorus as opposed to the distant sounds of how it started, moving everything up close in the mix for maximum results – but like I said, it’s not like they start moving that much quicker. They don’t, it just sounds like it…and I’d imagine that’ll be enough to convince people that it’s a faster track than it actually is. Anyhow. It’s really well designed when it comes right down to it, and clever on a structural level. I think the main hooks/chorus pretty much can’t help but define this track for the most part, but there’s some seriously kickass instrumentation here too for ya, with the guitar solo around the three-minute mark, and bass lines that’ll remind you of Ozzy’s No More Tears record at its very core.
All-in-all though, you’d probably think the overall sound of the Girl From Mars EP would be more akin to like…some kind of combination of Danzig and The Cult combined…and I could see a sound like that making its way onto many playlists out there for sure. My Creepy Susanne probably still has a bit of work to be done in terms of establishing its own identity and sound, but they’re doing what they do very well and executing on a professional level that should have no problem earning them a significant fan-base. There’s probably an argument to be made that “Voodoo Dolls” could be the most accessible cut of the bunch with its catchy low-down groove on display…listeners will respond to the level of swagger to be found in this tune for sure. Ultimately, that’s probably the best compliment you can pay to My Creepy Susanne – of the five tracks you’ll find on this EP, of which two cuts are already singles, I felt like you could just as easily make an argument for the other three being singles as well. I suppose that’s what I was getting at earlier on…if you dig what this band does on those first two tracks, you’ll end up digging it all – and if that’s the case, than any cut could become a single or gateway into the rest, right? I found “Voodoo Dolls” to be just a bit brighter and enticing on the way in through their combination of instrumentation…and when you factor in the nearly Elvis-esque swagger in the vocals, obviously here in a much more gothic style of sound…yeah…I dunno…to me, this could become the most effective single for the band. The dynamics work really well as they level up in the chorus once again…the switch isn’t quite as dramatic between parts like it was in “Lords Of Chaos” just prior, but their control of the power and energy seems to have found the perfect way to transition “Voodoo Dolls” into its most memorable moments. This track has a lot goin’ on for it when it comes right down to it…solid instrumentation, great vocal ideas…all that’s in the right place, but again, it’s their conviction and commitment that secure the victory overall. When you play with real interest and investment, we can always hear that in your music.
“Not A Love Song” was the first official single released back in January towards the start of 2023, and I can understand that choice. Like I said, any of these tracks could have conceivably been a single for this EP, and “Not A Love Song” is still a solid selection that holds up comparatively months later with the official release of this record. That being said…do I think every other track on this record outshines this cut by at least a little bit? Probably, if I’m being honest with ya. Like I always tell ya, accessibility doesn’t always equate to the ‘best’ song, it’s more along the lines of what people will respond to – and believe it or not, those are not necessarily the same thing. I’d reckon that this is one of those cases where My Creepy Susanne simply went on to write a bunch more tunes after “Not A Love Song,” and happened to discover even more potent material as the process went on. So…yeah…I ain’t opposed to the inclusion of “Not A Love Song” – it’s almost like a darker spin on the sound you hear in The Editors – all I’m saying is that My Creepy Susanne had the good fortune to create even stronger tunes in the four prior to this last cut…if that makes me the bad guy for pointing it out, then I have to accept my role as the villain y’all, as proudly as I always do. I only ever tell ya what I’m hearing as openly and honestly as I can, and let the chips fall where they may. Would I turn up “Not A Love Song” just as much as the rest of the set here on the Girl From Mars EP? Sure! In fact, I’ve done it, several times over this past week or so…like I’ve been saying, the strengths in these tunes is pretty damn even across the board, which really represents how the skills in this band are equally spread out too. So we’re not talking about any kind of letdown in the finale here, we’re simply talking about lateral moves being made throughout the course of five songs. To me, that’s where My Creepy Susanne has the most opportunity to diversify their sound in the future to follow…mid-tempo is as tough of a sell as I’m claimed it is, but still not impossible – the real key is to surround it with other dimensions & different tempos, which is probably part of the next phase of this band’s evolution to follow. They’ve got the right pieces in place, they know how to execute on a professional level for sure…it’ll be interesting to hear what they choose to do in the future.
Listen to more music by My Creepy Susanne at Bandcamp: https://mycreepysusanne.bandcamp.com
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