Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
With a spartan setup of vocals, guitar, and drums, Still House Plants have been casually reconstructing rock music since 2015. Jess Hickie-Kallenbach’s deeply accented vocals collide into guitarist Finlay Clark’s disjointed, detuned riffs, while drummer David Kennedy lifts off with his own lopsided rhythms. Melding influences from slowcore, Midwest emo, and sampling, the UK Gen Z trio inject glacially paced torch ballads with clattering math rock calculations.
While countless artists have attempted to radically rewire the rock ‘n’ roll genre, Mary Halvorson and Kevin Shea’s brambly indie-jazz unit People feels appropriate when discussing Still House Plants. The two bands have audible similarities in their voice/guitar/drums arrangements, yet People’s playful spirit marks a stark contrast from SHP’s energy, which is primarily distant, melancholy, blankly staring into space.
2020’s Fast Edit was a jarring patchwork of recording sources, smash-cutting between songs of various fidelities. If I don’t make it, I love u wipes away the murk like you’re suddenly watching in 4K after squinting at a grainy VHS tape. Living in the same city for the first time since 2017’s Assemblages allowed for endless rehearsals, and you can hear how tightly coiled SHP have become on a song like “Silver grit passes thru my teeth.” As Hickie-Kallenbach wails, Clark stomps on his distortion pedal, and Kennedy’s kick drum blasts like a machine gun. The spidery guitar riffs of “Headlight” gain power through repetition, while the softly tumbling toms of “no sleep deep risk” are reminiscent of Palmolive’s playful rhythms with The Raincoats.
Hickie-Kallenbach’s words appear throughout the album like letters written on a fogged-up bathroom window—barely audible, but effective if you catch them. On “M M M,” she repeats the Skee-Lo-like desire “I wish I was cool,” elongating the syllables until they become another pulse. “MORE BOY” unspools like a gender-bending indie rock affirmation, with shouts of “I am more boy!” until the guitar seems to melt out of existence. On “3scr3w3,” Hickie-Kallenbach channels the folk-y delivery of Joanne Robertson’s songs with Dean Blunt, repeating the anxious phrase “I think I’m very understanding” before settling into a coda of jangular jazz chords.
“Pushed” tears emo apart like a photo of a former crush, then tapes it back together again, leaving spots where things are obviously wonky. It sounds like the band members could be recording in three different rooms with no idea of what the others are playing, which is thrilling. “More More Faster” is subdued by comparison, beginning with a fuzzy, Eric Chenaux-esque intro before lurching into a lumbering rhythm. The vocals sound aspirational in a sad way, like Hickie-Kallenbach is pleading to you that she can be better. They almost lock into a groove, but Still House Plants never stay rooted in one spot for long.
