SONGS OF OUR YOUTH: PENELOPE ISLES
Penelope Isles are a psych-absorbed dream pop group hailing from Brighton, England-via-Isle of Man. The band is fronted by a duo of songwriter siblings, Jack and Lily Wolter, and their tender familial bond is tangible in Penelope Isles’ lush, mesmerizing ‘tunes. Their latest LP Until The Tide Creeps In (out now via Bella Union) is a highly textural exploration of the pair’s adolescence and growing up and out of Isle of Man. To keep the nostalgia flowing, we got in touch with the band to chat about the songs that defined their teenage years, ahead of their show with Wallows at Higher Ground next month [Scoop up tickets here]. Tune into their “Songs Of Our Youth” playlist and read on about their memories attached to the tracks below.
Jack:
Bloc Party - “So Here We Are”
Every time I hear this song, it takes me right back to opening the CD for the first time in my room aged 14, I didn’t have many albums and I remember how minimal the art was and how there were no lyrics, just a picture of a snow covered field. It made the album really mysterious to me. Bloc Party are probably the reason I wanted to play guitar more and more. ‘So Here We Are’ builds so perfectly and has such a unique atmosphere. It’s so mellow but the energetic drums are everywhere. I still love this song dearly.
The Thrills - “Don’t Steal Our Sun”
The Thrills changed my life. I owe everything to the songs. Thank you The Thrills!! Our mum showed us these guys and The Magic Numbers when I was thirteen. It was my first dive into the indie guitar world. ‘Don’t Steal Our Sun’ is an absolute banger of a song and I’ll love it forever. It has the best sounding guitar solo half way through. The Thrills are amazing at middle 8’s too. I did a cover of it on my first crappy laptop, on that free software audacity. I would love to hear it but it’s long gone! Thanks mum for showing us this band!
The Vines - “Winning Days”
Winning Days was a big album for me. I loved the ‘rock’ element, the fuzz and the massive drums and the singer’s shouty singing. But then they would write a song like ‘Winning Days’ that was gentle, soft and full of beautiful harmonies. The Vines were the first band I ever saw at Reading festival the first time I went. I knew every word and crowd surfed for the first time. A lot of firsts!
Elliot Smith - “Thirteen”
I got this song from a mate who had downloaded it from Napster. A few kids at school knew how to download tunes online and everyone was starting to get MP3 players. I got one that could hold about twenty tunes or something. ‘Thirteen’ and ‘Coast To Coast’ by Elliot Smith were on there for a bit. I loved how gently he sang. I only found out a year or so ago that ‘Thirteen’ was a Big Star cover.
Lily:
Radiohead - “Nude”
My brother introduced me to the band when I was about 15, I was doing my GCSE's at the time. I decided to include Radiohead in my Art project, as they were beginning to become such a big part of my life. Whilst all the other kids painted portraits of their dogs, or took black and white photos of their friends in the bath with smudged mascara, I did a painting of what I felt when I listened to 'Nude', on a roll of paper, completed with the worst portrait of Thom Yorke I've ever seen. Awful. A* for emotion?
Hal - “Keep Love As Your Golden Rule”
There a bunch of bands that remind me of driving down to Cornwall for our summer holidays. Whatever was in the CD player really. This one always brings out the nostalgia in me. Ice creams on Polzeath beach! We used to ask the chef at the Atlantic Hotel for bacon so we could feed the crabs with those little orange plastic things. Happy memories.
Bon Iver - “Re: Stacks”
My first band was with 2 of my best mates- Chris & Ffinlo. When Chris passed his test we used to drive around the island listening to Bon Iver, pretending we were in an indie movie. I reconnected with Chris after many years today (funnily enough). He picked me up in his car and we played this song. It was like no time at all had passed. One of those forever friendships. Like most of us, Bon Iver was the soundtrack to a lot of my teenage years.
Becky:
The Beatles - “Lovely Rita”
I put it down to my best pal Rooney for showing me The Beatles. I remember hearing the Sgt Pepper album in her mum’s car for the first time, we were driving back from Portsmouth and I remember them both singing their hearts out, loving every moment! Thanks for everything!
Scissor Sisters - “Lovers in the Backseat”
A bit cheesy but.. this was the first album I bought for myself, I would listen to it everyday on my way to school on my Walkman. I may not have understood the words and adult themes back then but I loved the music.
The Chemical Brothers - “Let forever Be”
This one goes out to my Dad. He always enjoyed to wake up our house on a Sunday morning blasting various Prodigy, Pendulum and Fatboy Slim albums (and every Ministry of Sound album going!) BUT he’d always throw The Chemical Brothers in there too and Surrender is one of my favourites to this day.
Sowie:
Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Dani California”
This album blew my head off when I was about 11. Properly showed me another side of music that I hadn’t experienced. I remember filling out a questionnaire in year 7 that asked us all our favourite things and I chose this as my favourite song, and I’m glad I’m not totally embarrassed by the choice I made now!
Bloc Party - “Helicopter”
When I first started playing drums this was one of the first songs I remember hearing and thinking, I have got to play that. Even when I sit down on a kit today I still get as much enjoyment out of smashing out the drum part of this song as I did when I was 13.
Bob Dylan - “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright”
There are a lot of songs throughout my life that my Dad has always played and sung whenever there is a guitar laying about the house and this is one of them. It’s a song I know so well having heard him sing it to me and my siblings probably since I was born, but I had never properly paid attention to the lyrics until the last few years. The song has always meant something to me as it reminds me of being young, but I think it means more and more to me the older I get.
Penelope Isles play at Higher Ground with Wallows on March 1st. Get tickets to the show here and stream Until The Tide Creeps In on all the major streaming services.
THIS ARTICLE WAS GRACIOUSLY CONTRIBUTED BY:
Carson Ehlert, co-founder of hope all is well and just a guy, in general.