New York – Sisters Colette and Hannah Thurlow make up the Irish-born, English-raised alternative rock group 2:54. The two wrote their self-titled debut, which was released on Fiction/Fat Possum in 2012. Two years later they’ve followed it up with their just-released second album, The Other I. The ambient record is a natural progression from their debut given the band’s namesake. In an interview with SXSW, in which she explained the inspiration behind the band’s name, Colette said, “The Melvins…have an incredible canon of work, but the song that inspired the name is from a fairly recent album, (A) Senile Animal. It’s that point on ‘History Of Bad Men’ where the bass line turns doomy, and dreamy… You can just fade into it.” While 2:54 bares little to no resemblance to “History Of Bad Men” or The Melvins, their meandering, structure less sound can definitely be described as “doomy, dreamy.”
Tracks like “Orion” and “Blindfold” showcase how the guitar and synth come together to form this haunting backdrop over which Colette sings. Her voice is another aspect of 2:54’s sound that makes it so well “doomy and dreamy.” The spectral sound is punctuated by drumlines that make up some of the most memorable parts of the album. Unexpectedly, for a large amount of The Other I, the drum takes a fairly prominent role. The opening of “Blindfold” is one point, in which the band’s drummer, Alex Robins, applies a simple pattern that hooks listeners within mere measures. “The Monaco” and “Pyro” are two other places in which Robins’ presence is really felt.
“Tender Shoots” is a completely different, perhaps more memorable story. The track is staggeringly simple compared to the rest of the album. Other parts of The Other I are complexly layered whereas “Tender Shoots” barely has more than one level to it. The song is primarily a call-and-response of almost unaccompanied vocals. Its lyrics are repetitive and concise, reinforcing the all-around simplicity. The song also lacks any form of percussion. This omission could have stripped the song of structure, but instead the lack of drums gives the track a more fluid form. The result is a peaceful loop of sound that can be played on repeat without being able to tell the beginning from the end.
A similar drifting, dream-like sound is heard in “Raptor,” but “Tender Shoots” is decidedly less eerie. “Raptor” has a more looming, on-your-edge sound that is somewhat nightmarish…the doom in “doomy, dreamy.” The opening piano and vocals set an almost creepy tone. It’s a beautifully dark arrangement. The slow addition of floor toms creates this unnerving soundscape that crescendos and decrescendos masterfully. It is a different sound when juxtaposed to the livelier tracks like “South,” but its overall feeling is still “doomy, dreamy.” Most tracks on The Other I can be categorized as either one of these two qualities. Some songs, like “Tender Shoots,” are dreamier than others. However, their similarities allow them to coherently fit on the same album.
2:54 has a handful of live performances in the U.K. listed on their Facebook.
Zoe Marquedant
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