The Standstills: Pretty Little Broken Thing

By Kerry Doole

The Standstills -  Pretty Little Broken Thing (MNRK Music Group):  A fiery hard rock duo from Oshawa, Ontario, The Standstills comprise Renee Couture and Jonny Fox. They formed in 2010 in London, ON, going on to sign a record deal with eOne Music (now MNRK Music Group), and earning positive notices for such albums as  From The Devil's Porch and 2019's Badlands.

A new album, Shockwave, is scheduled for release this year, and last Friday the advance single, Pretty Little Broken Thing came out. Featuring powerful drumming from Couture and intense guitar and vocals from Fox, the cut depicts a dangerously lustful encounter (sample lyrics: "I’m on a trip to the garden of Eden I’m gonna lay with the Goddess of Heathens"). The sonic fury is neatly captured by producer Neil Sanderson (from Three Days Grace), and Grammy-winning mixer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Daughtry).

In a label press release, Fox states that "Pretty Little Broken Thing is a punk rock love story about two people living on the edge, teetering towards a very dangerous life, who for better or worse, realize their only hope is to rely on one another in order to survive their tango through a world of sin and depravity."

Fox is full of praise for the work of Sanderson on this cut and the upcoming album. "Working with Neil was a revolutionary and rewarding experience,” he says. "He is undoubtedly one of the most talented and successful artists we know, and as a producer, he brought a fresh perspective to our body of work. Neil really put a lot of time and love into this record with us and was so encouraging throughout the entire process."

The duo's lineup makes White Stripes comparisons inevitable, but The Standstill's sound is less garage, more hard rock. It is definitely rock-radio friendly, as The Standstills showed by earlier winning as Best New Rock Group at the Canadian Radio Music Awards. Look for 2022 to be a potential breakthrough year.

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Publicity: Indoor Recess and Giovanna Melchiorre, MRNK Music Group