In House With 2:54: Brit Sisters Bring Love of Heavy Guitars to America

Posted on Jul 25th 2012 1:00PM by Cameron Matthews
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Damon Dahlen, AOL

In House is AOL Music's series in which we welcome artists into our offices to play some music, chat with our staffers and, generally, just hang out. For our latest visit, Spinner sat down with British up-and-comers 2:54.

Hannah and Colette Thurlow are having the time of their lives. The British sisters of 2:54 have traveled across the Atlantic in order to tame the United States with their first full-length album, Creeping.

On this cold and wet New York afternoon, the girls are in high spirits, as playing music in America is something they've always dreamed of. "We started writing music for fun in our teens," the tall and stunning Collette tells Spinner. "Hannah taught herself guitar and then taught me. And we just sort of explored it together. It naturally evolved as we got older."

Hannah's hair is put up in a curly fortress, a hive that stays tightly together when she rocks lead guitar live. She's the older of the two, but the sisters Thurlow couldn't be more on the same wavelength. They finish each others sentences, and simultaneously claim they knew "nothing at all" about music before entering into the big bad biz.

"I was a receptionist at an advertising agency," Collette reminisces of life before touring. "And I worked in a photography studio, kind of being a camera geek fixing cameras," her sister adds.

The pair have called London home for several years, but their love of music began in Bristol, where bands like Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky got their start -- music with an undeniable dark side, yet a tremendous amount of pop understanding. 2:54 are a bit different. They were raised on heavy rock 'n' roll, citing the Deftones and System of a Down as influences from their formative years.

Watch 2:54's "Creeping"

"Our mom was very into rock and heavier bands and I think that seeped in at a young age," Hannah says. "We're just fans of heavy guitars."

The girls eventually met Alex Robins and Joel Porter who fill out on bass and drums. Together, 2:54 is like a female-fronted Smashing Pumpkins. Their sound is a throwback to '90s alternative -- dark yet relentlessly beautiful.

"Creeping," the title track off the band's newest record, is the perfect introduction to the four-piece. A blistering and billowing distortion gives way to clean drums and Collete's crystal alto.

"It's the first fully realized 2:54 song," she says. "'Creeping' sort of ignited everything. I remember clearly that we had just finished the track in my bedroom, two years ago. There was just something about that track. Something we felt when we were playing it back."

And that's exactly how we're feeling. You won't be able to put your finger on what exactly you love about 2:54, but their tunes have a girth and weight that many indie bands today have a hard time achieving. Plus, they're just about as lovely as can be.

Click Through Photos of 2:54