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Dusted Reviews
Artist: Sons & Daughters Album: Love the Cup Label: Domino Review date: Feb. 18, 2005 |
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Glasgow’s Sons and Daughters follow an effective formula for controlled rowdiness: plucky drumming, three chord rave-ups, male-female call and response vocals and tight, short songs. Singer/guitarists Scott Patternson and Adele Bethel, a former touring member of Arab Strap, exude both a toughness reminiscent of the Kills and a detached coolness similar to tourmates Clinic. Sons and Daughters’ debut EP Love the Cup runs through its seven tracks in 25 minutes with a brash urgency that at times offers gritty catharsis, a la the best of the garage rock genre.
Sons and Daughters, however, are not a garage rock band. Strains of piano, provided by Bethel, and mandolin, contributed by bassist Ailidh Lennon, add a folk-inspired flavor to the group’s sound. Album opener “Fight,” with its Velvets guitar lead, is given pastoral undertones by its strummed mandolin. It’s this dichotomy between abrasiveness and their interest in melody and folk that is at once Sons and Daughters’ best attribute and what leaves them in the middle of the road. While they seem confident in their melding of rock and folk, one gets the impression that had the band chosen to follow either direction head-first, the results could have been stunning. Their choice to work inbetweenst, however, is intriguing and ultimately may have a more lasting appeal than if they had made a simple genre piece.
The tantalizing alternative, however, is “Johnny Cash,” the best three minutes on the album. A straightforward rock song, the band nails the raunchy guitar riffs and thick, accent-laden vocals. If Sons and Daughters could bottle the energy of “Cash” while continuing to split definitives, they’d make any parent proud.
By Jon Pitt
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