Move like Creatures

MOVE LIKE CREATURES

“It felt like
magic the first time we all got together,” says Move Like Creatures frontwoman
Nancy Bombard. “We were an instant family.”

Take a listen
to Space Case, the Southern
California four-piece’s exhilarating debut, and you’ll start to feel like part
of the family, too. Recorded with producer/engineer Ethan Kaufmann (Ryan
Cabrera, Avril Lavigne), the EP is deceptively bright, fueled by addictive
hooks and an infectious charm that belies the collection’s often-weighty
subject matter. Bombard’s lyrics are raw and vulnerable here, grappling openly
with loss, insecurity, and mental health, and her bandmates—drummer Melissa
Koziel and guitarist Ryan Reynolds—deliver similarly confident, captivating
performances, mixing pop sheen and rock and roll grit with immersive electronic
flourishes and streaks of punk defiance. The result is a rich, raucous record
that finds peace and comfort through acceptance and embrace of the self, a
bold, bittersweet debut that hints at everything from Hayley Williams and Liz
Phair to Gwen Stefani and Olivia Rodrigo as it reminds us that no matter how
dark or desperate things may seem, we’re never truly alone in this world.

“I think that
over the course of the pandemic, we’ve seen a lot of people experiencing
depression for the first time and struggling with how to manage those feelings
without the usual distractions,” says Bombard. “We wanted our music to be something
that could speak to those people and make sure they felt seen and included,
too.”

It should come
as little surprise that mental health is such a priority for the band: Bombard holds
a degree in psychology.

It was that desire
for meaningful connection that brought Move Like Creatures together in the
first place. Hungry to return to the studio and the road after the dissolution
of her last band, Bombard (who’d opened for the likes of 311, Slightly Stoopid,
Sublime with Rome, and Rebelution in previous projects) took her search for
like-minded artists to Craigslist in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. With
so much of the world shut down, she wasn’t sure who—if anyone—would respond,
but something told her she needed to give it a shot.

“Within a day
and a half, I’d heard from Ryan,” recalls Bombard, “and I was so excited about
the prospect of collaborating with people again that I didn’t even stop to
think that it might be dangerous to invite a stranger from the internet over to
my house. I ended up hiding a knife under the couch cushion the first time we
got together just to be safe.”

Fortunately
for both of them, Bombard and Reynolds clicked instantly, and with the subsequent
addition of Koziel lineup, it soon became apparent to all involved that they
were on to something truly special.

Koziel, whose
past groups had supported Fall Out Boy and Paramore in addition to performing
on the Warped Tour, “I’d played on some bills with Nancy over the years, so I
knew she was a great singer, but I think we were all surprised by how quickly
everything fell into place and how naturally the songs started coming together
with this group."

That intuitive
chemistry is palpable on Space Case,
which opens with the towering “Ghost Me.” Fueled by larger-than-life drums and
soaring vocals, the track wears its outsized ambitions on its sleeve, mixing
the intimate and the anthemic to craft an arena-sized sound that still manages
to feel profoundly honest and personal. Like much of the EP, the lyrics dig
deep, wrestling with doubt and desperation before ultimately arriving at a
place of hope and strength. The propulsive “All Hung Up” channels the dreamy
synths and muscular drive of The Killers as it learns to let go of pain and
live in the present; the buoyant “Pick Up What I Put Down” taps into the
effortless cool of Rilo Kiley as it breaks free of a toxic past; and the
swirling, hypnotic “Space Case” offers shades of P!nk as it leans into the
power that comes with embracing our flaws and shortcomings. It’s perhaps the effervescent
lead single “Mind Reader,” though, that best encapsulates the collection’s
balance of energy and empathy. Inspired by an ill-fated therapy session, the
track is a rallying cry for anyone who’s ever been misunderstood or
misdiagnosed, for anyone who’s ever been told to toughen up or shake it off. “They’re
always asking if I’m fine,” Bombard sings with an audible sneer. “They want to
fix me all the time.”