Sons And Daughters - 'The Gift' (Domino) Released 28/01/08

Good looks can get you everywhere in the music industry. But good looks and talent will take you further. Noir-natured Scots Sons and Daughters prove they have both with their debut album, ‘This Gift’. Producing skin tight indie rock, oozing good tunes and sex appeal in equal doses, this is garage rock that’s so clean and pristine it must shower 3 times a day. Its straight-up guitar parts, vampy harmonies and powerful acidic vocals make ‘This Gift’ easy to instantly revel in yet has enough draw to keep you coming back for more.

It’s a combination of influence and musical prowess that keeps ‘This Gift’ from being just another garage rock record.  The rogue jangle of 60’s London of ‘The Nest’, the 50’s  rock and roll bop of ‘Chains’, and ‘Iodine’ inhabiting the same arena as The Pixies, Sons and Daughters used variation in their punchy songs successfully, avoiding the repetitive rut that has taken down bands in the past.  

In addition the band seemed blessed with the skill of writing of the catchy hook. From the primal sexiness of the call-and-reply cries of male and female vocals on title track ‘This Gift’ to the warped guitar riff that drives right through ‘Darling’, each songs nails the listener right between the eyes with a straight to the point rock solid action

Above all though, ‘This Gift’ is great for its sense of everything in it’s right place and with the right balance. And it’s in this order that Sons and Daughers gain their powers to equally frustrate and tantalise. Just when you think vocalist Adele Bethel is about to hit her most seductive whisper or her most bile-spewing wail, she’ll hold back, leaving the listener the listener-victim stuck in a state of teased and tense readiness. Drums, bass and guitar too flirt with virtuosos styling, but keep their mark for the good of the whole. As the album plays out its game of aural foreplay, you can’t help but get the impression that Sons and Daughters are a tight-knit, professional outfit. This is no fly by night release –this band want to go the distance.

If there’s one criticism, it’s with opener ‘Gilt Complex’. The band’s first single, it’s a speedy repetitious number that sits on your brain like an aneurysm. Yet in comparison with the other tracks it’s a slightly crass, lacking the same level of intrigue as the album as a whole. Though it’s no real disaster, as the first track on the album it is arguably a step in the wrong direction. Luckily by the end of the 12 track on ‘The Gift’ it’s a fault easily forgotten.      

Being the flavour of one month can often mean your straight out the door and forgotten the next in the current state of musical affairs. With Sons and Daughters however it would seem the muso world has actually found something quite tasty to sink your teeth into.