About a year ago, it was impossible to go on a music site and not come across the name Still Corners, with speccy blog types going mental for single ‘Endless Summer’. It’s not difficult to see why, with the song’s channeling of 60s girl-pop (including a shameless use of that drum beat from The Ronettes’ ‘Be My Baby’), mixed with the extremely fashionable washes of reverb that gave the track an irresistible sound that was to music writers what dirty kebabs are to pissheads. The response was so great that legendary label Sub Pop flew over the Atlantic to snap them up ahead of the competition. The result is Creatures of an Hour, an album that took its time in arriving, but is well worth the wait.
The origins of the band lie with American chief songwriter Greg Hughes, who started the band, and released the Remember Pepper EP as a solo project after moving to Greenwich in London. It wasn’t until Hughes met vocalist Tessa Murray, however, that things really took off. The story of their meeting reads like a monumental cinematic cliché, with the pair bumping into each other on a foggy night at an abandoned train platform. The cinematic element of the story is appropriate, as Hughes is a self-confessed cinephile, taking inspiration from Italian horror films of the 1950s and French cinema for Remember Pepper.
The cinematic influence is all over debut album Creatures of an Hour, from the sample of the Get Carter theme on ‘Into The Trees’, to the Ennio Morricone-esque guitars on ‘Endless Summer’ and ‘Submarine‘. Some reviewers have commented, quite rightly, that the album at times sounds like the soundtrack to a David Lynch film, with wistful female vocals and sparse, reverb drenched instrumentation, probably providing backing music for some sort of weird stuff. That’s what he likes.
The band’s sound is a vague mixture of lots of familiar sounding elements, resulting in a sound that is similar to Beach House but not as grand, like The xx but less morose, and close to Portishead’s album Third, but without anywhere near as much studio wankery. Murray’s tissue paper-thin vocals have inevitably been compared to Liz Fraser and Rachel Goswell from Slowdive, but ultimately the overall sound is one unique to Still Corners.
Part of their evolution into a band to contend with has been their impressive live shows, which are complimented by visuals created by band member Leon Dufficy who, along with Luke Jarvis, was bought in to complete the band and cement it as a four-piece. Early album reviews point to the band making a big impact with their debut, with their following both here and in the US increasing and due to get stronger thanks to an upcoming US tour. But before they head off, there’s the small matter of playing an album launch show, at Café OTO on the 10th October – a gig put on by Rockfeedback, no less. Catch them before your friends do.
Live Dates
10/10 - Café OTO, London
15/10 - DeLuna Festival, Pensacola FL
16/10 - The Earl, Atlanta GA
17/10 - Snug Harbour, Charlotte NC
18/10 - DC9, Washington D.C. DC
19/10 - Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia PA
22/10 - Great Scott, Allston MA
24/10 - Il Motore, Montreal QC
25/10 - Drake Underground, Toronto
27/10 - Schubas Tavern, Chicago IL
28/10 - 7th St Entry, Minneapolis MN
31/10 - Media Club, Vancouver
1/11 - Sunset Tavern, Seattle WA
2/11 - Mississippi Studious, Portland OR
4/11 - Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco CA
5/11 - Bootleg Theatre, Los Angeles CA
Links
Videos
Cuckoo
Endless Summer
Into the Trees