2:54 are named after the point in Melvins' track 'A History of Bad Men' where the stoner rockers' bass line turns "doomy and dreamy". The band is built around Irish-born, London-based Thurlow sisters, Colette and Hannah.
They have already made waves with their assured self titled debut but the 'difficult' second album is a little more laboured and self conscious.
Written in Paris and London, the album was recorded at Bella Union’s East London studio and focuses on evoking a slow burning sense of drama.
The lyrics to the first single Blindfold reflect the downbeat mood, bemoaning the fact that "the further I go the less I know"
Colette’s lead vocals have the gothic grace of Siouxsie Sioux but she often seems to be struggling to find an epicness to match a title like Glory Days. On South she sings "I've got nowhere to put misshapen love" before the track fades out weakly.
The album is described as "an enquiry into the duality of the human experience - the division between the self that pounds on like a juggernaut in your head, and the self you present to the world".
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This theme is best reflected in tracks like In The Mirror and Sleepwalker. The album’s title was inspired by a favourite poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley who called his friend and muse Elizabeth Hitchener the ‘sister of my soul, my second self.’
The mantric pulse of the dramatic closing track Raptor makes this the standout track. On this song, the brooding tension is most effectively translated into musical terms thanks largely to a menacing bass line which kicks in for the closing two minutes.
Self-reflection is the essence of shoegaze but 2:54 stretch this to the point of introspection.
Though by no means a bad album, it's a record which merely serves to consolidate the band's obvious strengths rather than to build upon them.
2:54's website
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