Eagle & Talon keep it just between the girls on Thracian

By Jessica Galliart
Published: August 4th, 2009 | 7:00am

Eagle & Talon are a bit more than most people bargained for — band members, Kim and Alice Talon, included. The duo didn’t quite know how long they would last when they met via a Craigslist posting gone semi-wrong, but after five years of fumbling with technical equipment and discovering their noise-rock sound, the two have found themselves in a very different place.

After forming a partnership with a bass player at a concert, Kim and that first bandmate put out feelers for a drummer to complete their group. Though they auditioned many potential drummers from the online ad, Kim says Alice was the only one who stuck. Her bass player thought otherwise, resulting in Kim and Alice going off on their own. “[Kim] just showed up at my house and was like, ‘I think I have to get rid of him.’ I was like, ‘Ooh awkward,’” Alice says. “It turned out OK.”

The two L.A. girls are a seemingly odd pairing, but after a half decade making music together, Kim says the two now having the same last name symbolizes a familial bond. And though that bond has been key in helping the duo move forward to create a different sound on their self-released debut album, Thracian, there were times when the finish-each-other’s-sentences connection got in the way of collaborating with others. “They don't realize we're going to be as exacting as we are,” Alice says. We seem kind of innocuous at first, and then it's like, ‘Whoa ladies, back up, calm down.’” One sound engineer even referred to them as “Eagle & Talon & Bear With Us,” Kim says.

Thracian, however, has its lighthearted moments, such as on “Moisturizer (Wheat Calls),” where Alice describes both her restlessness and childhood memories of hearing her sibling scratching away from a bout of eczema. But with much of the writing done by Kim, the album’s strengths come alive on songs like “We Were Figs” and “Coast That’s Closest,” where she opens up about past heartache. “I really feel like songwriting is such an amazing tool for somebody who needs to express themselves, for letting things go,” Kim reveals. “Especially with the album being out now, I feel like I don't need to worry about that stuff now, because it's gone.”

Despite their differences with collaborators and their solid connection, the two have grown a bit tired of switching backup musicians for their live shows, and are considering adding some permanent members to the group before embarking on a month-long European tour this fall. “The longer we've been together, the more we realize that what we think sounds good doesn't sound good to a lot of people we know,” Kim says.

Whatever the outcome and whoever joins up with the duo, they’re pretty certain it won’t create any drifts or turmoil within the group. “I think that there's enough drama in our relationship … Alice or I would never bring anyone on who isn't nice and laid back. Because we aren't very laid back,” Kim admits. “We are in real life. Sort of.”

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