Biography
Sacred Paws centers on Rachel Aggs’s Afro-pop-inspired guitar lines and Eilidh Rodgers’s fluid drumming, augmented by the pair’s nimble dual vocals. After Golden Grrrls disbanded, the two musicians remained together and developed a buoyant, danceable strain of indie pop laced with tropical post-punk. That approach first surfaced on the 6 Songs EP and later shaped two full-length releases: the lean, high-energy Strike a Match in 2017 and the more layered Run Around the Sun in 2019.
When Golden Grrrls ended in 2013 after issuing a single album, Aggs and Rodgers chose to keep writing together despite the 400 miles between Aggs’s London base and Rodgers’s Glasgow home. They alternated long-distance commutes, with Aggs traveling north or Rodgers taking the megabus south for rehearsals. Early demos caught the attention of the Mogwai-operated Rock Action label, which signed the duo and booked them into Glasgow’s Castle of Doom studio under producer Tony Doogan. The resulting 6 Songs EP appeared in 2015, followed by a U.K. tour that included dates alongside Veronica Falls, Tuff Love, and Future Islands, a BBC 6 Music session, and a performance at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival.
While Sacred Paws operated, Aggs continued her work with Trash Kit and Shopping, and Rodgers held a position at Glasgow’s Monorail record store. For the first album the pair returned to Castle of Doom with Doogan, adding a horn section and keyboardist Lewis Cook of Happy Meals. The single “Everyday” preceded Strike a Match in early 2017; to promote the record the duo toured with bassist Moema Meade of Dog Legs and, in June, received the SAY Award for best Scottish album.
Throughout 2018 Sacred Paws continued performing—now frequently with Meade and occasionally with guitarist Jack Mellin of Spinning Coin—while preparing new material. Once again they enlisted Doogan at Castle of Doom, expanding the horn arrangements, increasing the keyboard presence (again supplied chiefly by Cook), and applying a denser sonic finish. The completed Run Around the Sun reached North American listeners via Merge Records and appeared elsewhere on Rock Action in May 2019, after which the band resumed touring.
When Golden Grrrls ended in 2013 after issuing a single album, Aggs and Rodgers chose to keep writing together despite the 400 miles between Aggs’s London base and Rodgers’s Glasgow home. They alternated long-distance commutes, with Aggs traveling north or Rodgers taking the megabus south for rehearsals. Early demos caught the attention of the Mogwai-operated Rock Action label, which signed the duo and booked them into Glasgow’s Castle of Doom studio under producer Tony Doogan. The resulting 6 Songs EP appeared in 2015, followed by a U.K. tour that included dates alongside Veronica Falls, Tuff Love, and Future Islands, a BBC 6 Music session, and a performance at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival.
While Sacred Paws operated, Aggs continued her work with Trash Kit and Shopping, and Rodgers held a position at Glasgow’s Monorail record store. For the first album the pair returned to Castle of Doom with Doogan, adding a horn section and keyboardist Lewis Cook of Happy Meals. The single “Everyday” preceded Strike a Match in early 2017; to promote the record the duo toured with bassist Moema Meade of Dog Legs and, in June, received the SAY Award for best Scottish album.
Throughout 2018 Sacred Paws continued performing—now frequently with Meade and occasionally with guitarist Jack Mellin of Spinning Coin—while preparing new material. Once again they enlisted Doogan at Castle of Doom, expanding the horn arrangements, increasing the keyboard presence (again supplied chiefly by Cook), and applying a denser sonic finish. The completed Run Around the Sun reached North American listeners via Merge Records and appeared elsewhere on Rock Action in May 2019, after which the band resumed touring.
Albums
Singles
