Still House Plants – If I Don’t Make It, I Love U

STILL HOUSE PLANTS_FRONT_SftDS Arrr! Since we talk a lot about pirates over here, we thought it would be nice to cough up something that can really make you seasick while sitting in a lazy chair. Bear with us if you dare.

Now that technology is moving fast, many forms of art are under pressure. It’s getting harder and harder for people to distinguish between what is real and what is not. In music, algorithms are already able to create songs that are all fun and catchy. Whether this is good or bad, right or wrong is up to you as a consumer. In this little corner of the world wide web, we often talk about artists or bands that do the opposite and push the boundaries of their art because it’s the most human thing to do. So sometimes you have to work for it to like it, and in the case of Still House Plants, an added dose of patience and perseverance is also highly recommended.

Although rooted in indie rock, Still House Plants draws inspiration from a wide range of genres such as post-rock, soul, and electronica. The trio, hailing from London via Glasgow, constantly experiments with the limits of their instruments. This ongoing experimentation is deepened by Jessica Hickie-Kallenbach’s dominant voice. Her dominant and restless vocals initially made us put aside their latest full work, If I Don’t Make It, I Love U. Yet, we kept returning because there was something there that needed to be understood. For months, we moved back and forth between various songs to eventually come to the conclusion that this band offers a unique collaborative approach that’s unlistenable for the masses but rewarding for those who put their mind to it.

If I Don’t Make It, I Love U is a robust-sounding work filled with fractured guitar work, dynamic drumming, and emotional vocals. Listening to Still House Plants can feel like witnessing how songs come together in real time. There are many unexpected twists and turns that cause tension, which is often overwhelming. However, Hickie-Kallenbach’s demanding vocals keep everything together and cause songs to naturally converge. Silver grit passes thru my teeth is a particularly powerful example of the aforementioned.

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The band’s ability to grip listeners but also release them is heard throughout the album. Hickie-Kallenbach’s candid and dead honest lyrics offer a glimpse into her inner world. Sometimes she addresses vulnerability and sometimes insecurity, but she always is in search of a real connection, which is often a struggle. During the opener M M M, she sings: “I just want my friends to get me, I just want to be seen right.” And on other tracks like Pushed and Sticky, she sings about these themes.

It’s clear that Hickie-Kallenbach’s singing benefits from the raw and unfiltered guitar and drum play. The power of the band is strongly rooted in their collaborative approach, which at times even transcends to a symbiotic level. Headlight and the closer More More Faster are the best examples of this mutually beneficial relationship because of the fuller-bodied sound and faster pace. Here, the band reaches true heights that are rarely heard in the field of indie rock. While Still House Plants‘ deconstructed-structured manner of songwriting works better on some tracks than others, the potential of this outfit seems limitless.

If I Don’t Make It, I Love U is one of this year’s most divisive albums. It is reasonable to say that this work is an obnoxious catch-22 made of experiments within experiments. Yet, it’s also true that if you survive the first minute-and-a-half or so, this work is among the most engaging listens of 2024. So, is it also possible to meet somewhere in the middle? Short answer to that is: no.