The Pierces, Koko - music review: 'spellbinding harmonies herald new queens of the airwaves'

The Pierces' fourth album, 2011's You & I, was the first to bring them public recognition, although they'd actually been toiling away for decades.

Much was made at the time of the sisters’ connection with The Strokes (Catherine was engaged to Albert Hammond Jnr) and Coldplay (Guy Berryman produced the album). But three years on, inside a packed Koko, Catherine and Allison Pierce seemed ready to write their own legacy.

A move to cloudless California has heralded a sunnier selection of songs on their soon-to-be-released fifth album, Creation, while a four-piece backing band added muscle to their stripped-back songs.

Yet it’s the sisters’ spellbinding harmonies that remain the focal point, as showcased on set opener Elements. Another new song, Believe in Me, underlined their more expansive horizons while the jagged guitars of Come Alive were more London Calling than California Dreamin’.

In truth, The Pierces remain more imitators than innovators. It Will Not Be Forgotten nodded to the Seventies Americana of Fleetwood Mac — music, you imagine, many of this middle-aged crowd grew up listening to.

But originality isn’t everything. When the melodies soar and the choruses stick, as they did often, there was plenty to enjoy about the duo’s retrospective soft-rock. Indeed, when the sisters sang “we could do what kings do” on recent single Kings, it was hard to disagree. The Pierces could rule the airwaves.