Still House Plants

Experimental British rock trio Still House Plants construct a sparse, evocative sound through the interplay of Jess Hickie-Kallenbach’s warping vocals, Finlay Clark’s fractured guitar lines, and David Kennedy’s insistent drum patterns. The group first gained substantial critical attention with its third studio album, the 2024 release If I Don’t Make It, I Love U, after issuing the earlier recordings Assemblages in 2017 and Fast Edit in 2020.

The three musicians—David Kennedy, Jess Hickie-Kallenbach, and Finlay Clark—met while studying at Glasgow’s School of Art in 2013 and formed an initial project called Your Hair Cut during their second year. They soon adopted the name Still House Plants, drawn from their debut performance titled “singing for our house plants” and from New York’s Still House Group collective. Their first EP, the self-titled Still House Plants, appeared in 2016 on the Glasgow cassette label GLARC and contained sparse, discordant ballads such as “Warm in the Car” and “Obi/Lowe’s.” The intimate, experimental approach continued to evolve on the 2017 EP Assemblages, again issued by GLARC, and on the 2018 debut album Long Play, released by Bison. After a residency at London’s Cafe OTO, the band delivered its sophomore album Fast Edit, marked by throatier vocals and a more jazz-oriented instrumental approach. In 2024 the group returned with If I Don’t Make It, I Love U, whose cover broke from a previous monochromatic scheme by featuring a prominent orange “3”; the record further sharpened the trio’s distinctive sound.