After forming in early 2014, Creeper recorded their debut EP at The Ranch Production House in their hometown of Southampton with producer and engineer Neil Kennedy. The EP was self-released by the band as a digital download on the website Bandcamp on 19 June 2014, and was later made available for streaming on the Kerrang! website in July. Following its digital release, Creeper was issued as a limited edition 12" vinyl on 8 December 2014 by Palm Reader Records limited to 300 copies – 100 on "Creeper Purple" vinyl and 200 on black vinyl. The EP was written primarily by vocalist Will Gould and guitarist Ian Miles, with second guitarist Sina Nemati co-writing "We Had a Pact" and "Gloom". In promotion of the EP, a music video for "Gloom" was released on 3 September 2014. The track was also included on the Rock Sound compilation Rock Sound 100% Volume #192, released in October. The first music video was followed in January 2015 by a video for "VCR", which was filmed "in the heart of Leicestershire countryside". Both videos were produced by the company Rolling Vision. "VCR" was also later made available as a free download from the Kerrang! website as part of the magazine's #KerrangFreshBlood feature. After making their live debut at the Creeper EP release show on 1 August 2014 at the Joiners Arms in Southampton, the band played their first live show in London on 13 September at The Old Blue Last. They later supported Welsh band Funeral for a Friend on a UK tour in January 2015, as well as opening for Gallows in May and playing at Download Festival in June.
Critical reception
Media response to Creeper was generally positive. Tom Connick of DIY magazine described the EP as "perfectly executed punk rock", praising vocalist Will Gould's "impassioned accounts of love and loss" in his lyrics and the "soaring vocal harmonies and three-chord melodies" present on many of the songs, which he compared to the style of bands like Alkaline Trio and AFI. Rock Sound writer Chris Hidden described Creeper as a "highly accomplished debut EP", describing the band's style as "a dark, slightly gothic twist on peppy punk rock" and also comparing them to Alkaline Trio. Katie Clare of Louder Than War remarked that the EP contained "five flawless tracks of dark hued pop punk".
