Single Review: Sisters - Guerrilla

 

There's an urban myth that plays on my mind from time to time: You're never more than six feet away from a rat in an urban area. Now for someone so appalled by that thought, it's not the most entertaining of prospects. The torture scene in 1984 certainly didn't help. Here comes the trauma dump. 

I was once walking to work at a time I has having quite excessive and - at times, debilitating - panic attacks, that were happening several times a week. As I walked past a park that was several hundred yards from where I worked, listening no doubt to either Arcade Fire or Flaming Lips on a Discman (I'm old), a rat emerged from a bin with ferocious intensity towards me and sparked a fight-or-flight response within that left me gasping for breath. It all happened so quickly, but it felt like I was awake in a nightmare. 

I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was terrible.

'Guerrilla' is the new single from Liverpool five-piece Sisters; a band never afraid to explore the darker realms of the human psyche. The song starts in a dreamy state of semi-consciousness, with meandering guitar lines and subtle drum work laying evocative foundations. Singer Gigi Genet with an air of disorientated cool to her vocals, that is informed by the likes of Hope Sandoval and Wolf Alice. The confusion contained within her performance are punctuated by layers of personification contained within the lyrics:

I wake up and I feel fine, but everything talks to me. 

The house breaths; is always watching. 

Photos by Aidan Medina

Building the intensity as the tracks takes shape; an impactful blast of distorted guitars comes to the forefront and is gone before you know it. If this was Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai, you wouldn't be surprised. Returning back to the opening state of disorientation, a tasteful use of synth enters and it adds a further restrained texture. By this point, Genet's vocals have become more desperate in their intention as she pleads:

Let me be stable

keep me stable

dress me how you like 

and I'll hate it

The "..and I'll hate it." line is double-tracked on the vocal with the dreamy, almost sedated vocal counteracted by a more unhinged shriek, which is tinged with a fight-or-flight sensibility. 

It doesn't take long from here for the track to descend into a wall of noise, with a monster distorted guitar riff taking over the mix; a cathartic release from the inertia that had reigned before. 'Guerrilla' is  noisy, anthemic and ultimately a rewarding listen. It's clear Sisters have a grasp of the subtleties required to make a successful track in this vein, their use of dynamics is balanced and they don't try to fill the quieter moments with unnecessary flourishes. This is excellent stuff.

 

If you're never more than six feet away from a Rock band, then please let it be one like Sisters. 

 

Sisters are currently on a tour of the UK in support of the release of 'Guerrilla', dates are as follows:

• 29 July – Leeds, Wharf Chambers
• 30 July – Bristol, Cafe Kino
• 2 August – Glasgow, McHuills
• 4 August – London, The George Tavern
• 5 August – Brighton, The Prince Albert
• 6 August – Sheffield, Sidney & Matilda
• 7 August – Northampton, The Lab
• 8 August – Liverpool, Quarry

Follow Sisters on Instagram and find out more at sistersbandofficial.com