First sight: The Pierces

New York-based sister act Allison and Catherine Pierce are suddenly a band everyone's talking about

Who are they?

New York-based sister act Allison and Catherine Pierce, who are suddenly a band everyone's talking about, after a decade of failure.

A decade? That's an unusually long time to pay your dues.

It is, but the Pierces are unusual siblings. Raised and home-schooled by hippie parents in Birmingham, Alabama, they were actually trained as ballerinas before Allison ran off to join a religious cult.

Not the best career move. What happened?

She was "rescued from brainwashing" by Catherine, apparently. Their clearly very busy publicists have also revealed how the pair then cast spells to help them get a record out. Unfortunately, the dark arts didn't make three albums successful (although Catherine did land a celebrity fiance in the Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr).

A magical connection?

And not the only one. After the duo briefly split in 2008 in frustration, "old friend" Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman asked them to support his band and sprinkled production magic on their songs. Even if their history is a fairy story, it would be hard to deny the strength of their songs, which are reminscent of two female Roy Orbisons performing the Pretenders' sublime I Go to Sleep.

Where can I hear them?

The Pierces' Love You More EP is out now on Polydor. You can see the video for the title song at myspace.com/thepierces. The duo tour with Lissie in December.

Contributor

Dave Simpson

The GuardianTramp

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