The Cords: An Interview with the Indie Pop Sister Duo on C86 Influences, Debut LP, and Going Global
For the last eighteen months or so, old school indie pop-styled two-piece sister act The Cords have been receiving a great deal of attention from various quarters within the U.K. music scene.
This includes a radio session for BBC 6 Music’s Marc Riley and Gideon Coe and further airtime courtesy of John Cavanagh’s Soundwave (Radio Six International) and Vic Galloway (BBC Radio Scotland). In addition, much praise has been garnered amid coveted support slots with The Vaselines, Chime School, The Soup Dragons, Belle & Sebastian, The Pastels, and Camera Obscura. All of this has come about on the strength of a few head-turning gigs they played in early 2024. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of writing, planning, and action, including a series of headline gigs across the U.K. and their first overseas appearances in Madrid, Paris, and Norway’s Egersund Visefestival. Still being relatively young, the girls’ parents Marc and Lou have also involved themselves behind the scenes, organising transport and taking care of administration and merch duties. I’ve been fortunate to see a couple of live Cords gigs, and was able to catch up with them during the summer to find out who they are and to ascertain just what has been happening for them.
“We are Grace and Eva Tedeschi, sisters from Inverkip, Scotland,” Eva tells me. “I write, play guitar and sing, and Grace is the drummer. We can both play guitar, bass, and drums and have been playing together properly now for two years.” Drummer Grace also chimes in, “Two years ago our drum tutor started a rock school, and we wanted to be in a band so went along. In the end, Eva and I decided to just be a duo together, and Eva would play guitar and sing. We wrote songs and played and rehearsed like mad, and our first big gig was supporting The Vaselines in Mono (in Glasgow), which was amazing!! Lots of amazing support acts and a BBC 6 Music live session with Marc Riley followed, and it just went mad from there!”
To give readers some context, Inverkip is a small seaside town situated on the west coast of Scotland near Greenock, and the drum tutor whom Grace is referring to is Lesley McLaren from successful all-girl rockers The Hedrons, who were around during the early part of the new millennium and even had the good fortune to open for the Rolling Stones and the reformed Sex Pistols. In May 2024, The Cords’ debut single (only physically available on cassette) appeared. This featured two of their bounciest tunes, the stuttering ‘Bo’s New Haircut’ (a song about their dog) and a swooningly infectious number called ‘Rather Not Stay’. This really started the ball rolling for them, with more gigs and recording following on soon after. “Everything that we have recorded so far has been produced and engineered by Jonny Scott (Chvrches and Lo Moon) and Simon Liddell (Frightened Rabbit and Poster Paints),” Eva says. “The cassette recordings were recorded in The Frightened Rabbit studio in Glasgow, and the bulk of it was recorded live with bass, backing vocals, and keys added afterwards. They were mastered by Nova sound studio.” The group were also given a further push through their connection to Carla Easton and Blair Young’s kickstarter-funded, years-in-the-making but now quite successful film project, Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands, which has ‘Rather Not Stay’ featured playing out over the film’s end credits.
The Cords then made a couple of well-received appearances last summer alongside a last-minute reunion-of-sorts by some of their favourite indie-pop aggregations of the past, namely The Shop Assistants and Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes, appearing at both the Glasgow and Edinburgh launch nights of Postcards From Scotland, the latest book which takes a historical look at some of the country’s most-loved, and so-called post-punk and independently minded groups, as written up by indie-and-punk scene author and film-maker Grant McPhee. At the end of the year, Eva and Grace then put out a thrilling, Christmas-themed, strictly limited edition red 7” flexi-disc, its grooves housing another of their brilliantly fizzing tunes in the shape of ‘Favourite Time’. Released in conjunction with the labels Heavenly Creature (Scotland) and Slumberland (Oakland, CA, USA), this soon went the way of their inaugural cassette tape debut by selling out in only a matter of hours. Both the flexi-disc track, as well as those on the earlier cassette, however, are still available in digital format and can be accessed through the usual online services. Until now, this was the sum total of the group’s available recordings, but all that has now changed as the sisters’ debut album, The Cords, was released in the last week of September 2025 on Skep Wax in the U.K. and Europe, with Slumberland releasing it for the U.S. market. “Our album was recorded in Jonny’s home studio, and we recorded everything separately, which allowed us to really experiment this time with different sounds and instruments,” Grace reveals. “Everything on the album has been produced, engineered, and mastered by Jonny and Si.” Thankfully – and especially so for those of us not quite up to speed in getting our hands on the cassette – both ‘Bo’s New Haircut’ and ‘Rather Not Stay’ have also made it onto the album tracklist, although, for the time being at least, ‘Favourite Time’ is set to remain an exclusive flexi-disc and digital-only treat.
And what a buzz the duo’s debut long-player is proving to be. The full-tilt ‘Fabulist’ kicks things off in driving, attacking style, the lyrics calling out someone who is always being economical with the truth. ‘Fabulist’ would also become the group’s next single, which is still available on CD. Skep Wax also issued the song on an extremely limited lathe-cut, clear vinyl 7” with a lyric postcard; alas, this edition sold out the very same day it was released. Their U.S. label Slumberland also issued a similarly limited lathe-cut 7”. The eponymous album, meanwhile, contains lots more revved-up winners, which should equally delight the group’s fans and those with fresh ears to hear. “We didn’t re-record the singles for the album,” states Eva, “but when we listened to it all together, there was a difference in sound, so Jonny remastered them both for us.” When I enquire whether any of the older selections have undergone any new modifications, Grace adds that, “It’s not hugely different sounding from the cassette singles, but there is a subtle difference, so it sits better with the rest of the album.” Along with those earlier songs already recorded for public consumption, the album includes the likes of ‘Vera’, the almost hypnotic and cyclical ‘Just Don’t Know (How To Be You)’, as well as another speeding whirlwind called ‘October’ and the resigned indignation of ‘Doubt It’s Gonna Change’. All of these are signposts that show off The Cords’ further strengths in building a song up with strong momentum, each one striving to keep all of us listeners on our toes.
Recording that all-important first album is, of course, always an exciting experience for any young group to go through, although, for some, it can sometimes be quite a daunting task. Not so, however, for The Cords. “To be honest,” says Eva, “we found it was a great experience. We have a great relationship with Jonny and Si, and they make us feel very relaxed, and the whole thing was very chilled.” Grace also agrees, “We were able to experiment with our songs a lot, and there’s even a melodica in one somewhere!! As Eva said, it was all very relaxed and enjoyable. We really love recording.”
Grace and Eva’s enthusiastic and assured playing thrives on a basic, largely unrelenting flow of youthful energy, but with nothing too brittle or overly harsh in the mix, almost everything comes across sounding rather melodic. Yet they’re also not afraid to inject some genuine intensity into their playing too whenever something of that nature is required. And whether a song’s message is positive or cautionary (even negative on occasion), the songs still retain a vibrant sense of vitality (or indeed a sense of fun too whenever that’s called for). This is evident across both sides of the album; something that can often be lacking in certain sounds being created by some of today’s young music-makers. But it’s not all bish-bash-bosh either, as the likes of ‘Yes It’s True’ (which gives off a kind of early My Bloody Valentine feel) and the intriguingly played and sung ‘Weird Feeling’ (this one with lyrics penned by Grace alone) are able to demonstrate.
Meanwhile, ‘When You Said Goodbye’, an altogether beautifully melancholic cut, sounds like the perfect way to close out their first album. This gorgeously happy / achingly sad track, also issued as a digital-only single as the LP was being released, sees Grace and Eva dialling things back a little further in time and space with echoes somewhat redolent of those heart-wrenching songs like ‘Somewhere In China’ by The Shop Assistants mixed in with the mellow ooze of The Velvet Underground as well as being similarly atmospheric as those cool, bouffant-carrying mid-sixties girl groups could be. For me, the song’s opening guitar motif resonates in much the same way as ‘You Can’t Put Your Arms Round A Memory’, the superb 1978 single by former New York Dolls and Heartbreakers guitarist Johnny Thunders.
It’s no secret that outfits such as The Shop Assistants and others of that C86 era are among The Cords’ key influences. “Definitely take inspiration from The Umbrellas, Tiger Trap, Go Sailer, Shop Assistants, and Tallulah Gosh,” agrees Eva. “We love their sound, and Tiger Trap was a real moment of, ‘I want to do that.’ Always listening to new music too, so we hear things that influence us often.” “The Cure and The Velvet Underground,” Grace adds, “as well as the bands Eva has said. I love Mo Tucker’s drumming style and try to bring a bit of that to The Cords. Our influences change over time as well as we hear new bands, but they are our core influences.”
Other than those artists mentioned above, were there, I wondered, any individual players who also inspired the girls with respect to their chosen instruments? “That is a really easy question for me to answer,” reveals Eva, “as it would be Rose Melberg. I absolutely love her and everything that she has done from her early days in Tiger Trap to Brave Irene, The Softies, and everything in-between.” For anyone wishing to check out anything Rose has been involved in, give some ear to the truly fuzz-drenched ‘Write It In The Sky’ by The Umbrellas. You won’t be disappointed! “I’d also say David Keegan and Alex Taylor from The Shop Assistants,” continues Eva, “as David’s guitar playing is absolutely amazing, and I love the way he uses distortion and feedback, and Alex Taylor is just unreal! Also Amelia Fletcher, who is amazing, and Tallulah Gosh have really influenced our sound. I have had the privilege of meeting Rose (Melberg) and playing on stage with David last year, which I still can’t quite believe, and they were both so lovely!! Amelia is lovely too, and now we’re on Amelia’s record label – insane!!!!” Grace concludes, “I’d definitely say Mo Tucker, as I’ve already mentioned. I love her laid back drumming style and I try to bring that to The Cords. I’d say Ann Donald from The Shop Assistants as well, as I love the loud, simple, standout sound!”
So who knows, with a fair wind in their sails and time (at present decidedly and most favourably) on their side, perhaps The Cords will be the ones to break on through and be afforded the chance to play to, as well as win the hearts of, ever bigger audiences than that which many of their beloved indie pop/punk forbears were able to do. The Cords have already undertaken a series of successful appearances this past year, including the “Glas Goes Pop” event in Glasgow as well as the “Preston Pop” festival, and have already successfully undertaken further headlining tour dates in the U.K. throughout September and October, including a hotly-anticipated appearance at the debut “Edinburgh Indiepop Collective” all-day celebration on Saturday, October 4. As mentioned above, their sensational eponymous debut LP The Cords is out now on Skep Wax (U.K. and Europe) and on Slumberland (U.S.A.) and is currently climbing towards the Top Ten in the Scottish album charts! Do yourself a favour and check it out if you haven’t already done so. I’d like to extend my grateful thanks to Eva and Grace Tedeschi (The Cords); The Cords’ mum and dad (Wee Lou and Marc); all at The Onion Cellar; Amelia Fletcher (Skep Wax) and Mike Schulman (Slumberland). My thanks also to Shindig! magazine for publishing a heavily abridged version of the above interview / article in the October 2025 issue (No. 168).
Lenny Helsing
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