Connell and other members of the Connells band were also influenced by then-contemporary British bands such as The Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen. Another, more idiosyncratic, influence was the British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, whose song "Living in the Past" was covered by the Connells on 1995's "New Boy" EP. Like Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Connell and Huntley played Rickenbacker guitars for the first several years of the band's career, creating a jangly, folk-rock sound reminiscent of The Byrds and other Southern U.S. and North Carolina bands of the era, such as the dB's and Let's Active.