It’s not every band whose first gig is opening for the Vaselines. The Cords, though, did just that at Glasgow venue Mono two years ago, not long after sisters Grace and Eva Tedeschi had formed their duo.
“We had just made social media, so I think someone there might have seen us on Instagram or something, a video,” recalls Eva.
“It was busier than I expected it to be,” adds Grace, the elder sister by two years. “It was scary. It was like, oh my god, there’s like a million people here. I was just nervous.”
The two banter back and forth about how many people might have been in the venue when they played. “It was full,” says Eva, who plays guitar. “I don’t remember. I was so nervous I think I just stared down at my drum kit,” says Grace.
Regardless, it was the start of a journey that led the two across various venues in Glasgow, about an hour away from where they live, and then into the studio and back on the road for a slew of 2025 festival dates. Somewhere in the midst of this, Grace briefly attended art school. “I missed the first day for recording and I missed a few days after that and my teacher was like, you’re going to have to pick, Grace. It’s going to have be art or music,” she recalls. “I was like, well, music then. Bye.”
On Friday, September 26, the Scottish duo unveil their self-titled debut album, a 13-song collection steeped in classic indie pop. “We’re very inspired by Vaselines, Teenage Fanclub, Shop Assistants,” says Grace. “All the iconic indie bands from Glasgow and Edinburgh are definitely our biggest influence.”
Going into the album, Eva says, she was listening to a lot of the Shop Assistants, the mid-1980s indie band from Edinburgh, as well as Tiger Trap, the 1990s American band associated with K Records, and contemporary jangle-pop group, The Umbrellas. Grace says she was listening to much of the same with an added dose of shoegaze. The latter influence comes through in “Yes It’s True,” with vocals that eerily recall Lush.
“Eva came to me with it and I was just like, that’s very Lush, I love it,” says Grace.
While The Cords have only been in existence for a few years, Grace and Eva have been playing music for much longer. “We both had been drumming ever since we were really young and I played guitar for a wee bit when I was four,” says Eva. “I remember Grace was going to drumming lessons and I would go to guitar lessons and it was in the same place, so we always played instruments since we were really young. We just decided to do it together.”
Eva does the bulk of the songwriting, although Grace contributed writing to the album as well. “Grace wrote ‘Weird Feeling,’ which is a lot of people’s favorite we’ve heard,” Eva says.
Eva’s style of writing is best described by Grace as “happy-sad.”
“I don’t really like writing sad stuff,” says Eva, “so if something sad happens that I want to write about, I try to make it into something happy.”
The two seem most enthusiastic when they’re talking about other bands. A bonus of playing through the festival season is having the chance to see others play, from Sassyhiya to High Water Marks. “There are too many,” says Eva of the memorable shows they’ve seen.
One standout, though, was The Pastels at Glas-Goes Pop. “We got to play with The Pastels as well before that, so we’ve seen them twice now, which is super cool,” says Grace.
On the day we met for this video interview, the two were in the midst of a break prior to the release of their self-titled debut album and a round of tour dates that would include two sold-out shows in London.
“This is the longest we’ve gone without a gig, it’s been five weeks or something like that,” says Eva. “We’ve just been chillin’.”
“I’m bored though,” says Grace. “I love going to gigs.”
The Cords self-titled debut album is out now. Follow the band on Instagram for updates.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram or Bluesky for more updates.
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