A hard-rock duo from London, Ontario, The Standstills were formed in 2010 by Canadian songwriters Jonny Fox and Renée Couture. Both musicians were college students at the time of the group's launch, and they took inspiration from other guitar-driven rock bands like The White Stripes and Queens of the Stone Age. The Standstills' debut, The Human Element, was recorded in 2010 and released in early 2011, with Pushing Electric following in 2012. Fox and Couture co-produced both records and released them independently. In the wake of Pushing Electric's release, however, The Standstills partnered with an indie label, eOne Music, for the release of the 2015 EP From the Devil's Porch. The album proved to be a breakthrough moment for the group and earned The Standstills the first radio hit of their career. The EP's lead single, "Orleans," reached Number 4 on the Canadian rock chart and remained in the Top 10 for more than four months. The success reinvigorated the band, and The Standstills returned in 2019 with a third full-length album, Badlands. Although the Covid-19 pandemic brought the band's touring schedule to a temporary halt, the group contained creating new music. Their first single in three years, "Pretty Little Broken Thing," was released in 2020 and became a Top 50 on the Canada Rock chart, with a full-length album named Shockwave following closely behind.
