The Pierces are sisters Catherine and Allison Pierce, originally from Birmingham, Alabama, now based in New York City. The siblings have actually been active musicians for 11 years, releasing three albums in the process: their debut eponymous album in 2000, their sophomore album Light of the Moon in 2005 and most recently the album Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge in 2007. The girls have flirted with the majors throughout their career, and were at certain points signed to Epic and Universal. However, due to numerous problems with apathetic labels, the band’s success with their previous releases was limited, and their albums were barely available outside of the US. Due to such complications, their new label Polydor has chosen to promote them as new artists.
Home-schooled by hippie parents – their mother was a painter and their father a guitarist – the girls musical influences, perhaps unsurprisingly, have traditional 60s origins, with the group stating The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as key. Whilst these bands are clearly audible within the girls’ style of dark folk pop, The Pierces actually sound much closer to the strongly American sounds of surf, country and MOR. Female lead acts from the 1960s and 1970s, including Mama Cass, Nancy Sinatra, Stevie Nicks and especially The Mamas and the Papas sound particularly similar, with their close, folk inspired harmonies in bittersweet minor keys, finished with flourishes of an almost goose-pimpling beauty and sadness.
Vocals are key in The Pierces work, with both sisters in possession of endearingly delicate, ethereal voices. Backing instrumentation is fairly traditional, with lots of guitars and hand percussion. Their music has additionally had an audibly lavish production laid on it, with rich, luscious timbres and a strong depth of sound.
Now the girls finally have good label support their music is dispersing everywhere. There has been numerous support for the singles ‘You’ll Be Mine’ and ‘Glorious’ from BBC Radio 2, and their music has also appeared on the Topshop radio playlist and in publications from The Word to Music Week. With beautiful faces, beautiful melodies, a hint of artistic quirkiness mixed with MOR accessibility, The Pierces are surely guaranteed to do well this time around.
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