Sons and Daughters

I woke up to some great news from Scotland... a new Sons and Daughters record is done and ready for release!

I love this band, as longtime readers will know. The descriptions on the Domino site, do give me pause though, as I prefer S&D in their full-on rockabilly speed demon twang, whereas the new record is described more like their slower more deliberate past exploits like Love the Cup and Repulsion Box. And the first sneak peek track, Silver Spell speaks to that. But the good news is that there are also other great descriptions of the new record that have me very interested. "Themes of fairytales, serial killers and witchcraft"? Yes! "If any film represents this record, it would be like Dario Argento’s Suspiria.” YES! I can't wait.

Check out and download Silver Spell at the Domino Records site.

Follow Sons And Daughters on twitter: @SnDloveYou

Top 10 for 2008

I have meant to post this for months (obviously). But I would be remiss to avoid posting it altogether. So here it is, my Top 10 records from 2008:

1. Glasvegas- Glasvegas
   
2. The Duke Spirit- Neptune
   
3. Be Your Own Pet- Get Awkward!
   
4. Sons and Daughters- This Gift
   
5. Santogold- Santogold
   
6. Elvis Costello and the Imposters- Momofuku
   
7. The Enemy- We'll Live and Die In These Towns
   
8. Coldplay- Viva La Vida
   
9. The Roots- Rising Down
   
10. The Last Shadow Puppets- Age of the Understatement
    

If you don't already have all of these, you should remedy that right now. 2008 was actually a pretty great year for music, and I was very happy to find that it was difficult narrowing it down to these 10. But each of the above records really delivered, and are still in heavy rotation even now, half way thru 2009.

Sons and Daughters

I have known about Scotland's Sons and Daughters for awhile and have always enjoyed their tunes. In fact, "Dance Me In" has been an All England Club staple for a long time. But as much as I enjoyed their past output, I have never really been moved to actually make an effort to hype them to friends and family until now.

"What's the difference now?" you may ask. Well, in a phrase, S&Ds got teeth. The dark brooding country-tinged murder ballads of their old records have now been injected with some punch and some fury. Much like past releases, their latest, This Gift, still recalls the likes of Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, but this time out they have a dash of rockabilly and swagger that was absent before. Maybe its a dash of girl power in the writing or just upping the amps to eleven, but this is not the brooding Sons and Daughters of old. And it's not just in the lyricism. While the dark lyrics also bleed into more angry and fervent territory, the real change here is the sonic power they generate, especially from the guitar licks. Much like I mentioned in the 2 Lone Swordsmen and Arctic Monkeys posts, looks like we might be seeing a resurgence in the UK of reverb and fuzzbox rock riffs again.

For those playing at home... This Gift gets an 8, the tracks below gets a 9.5 and a 9, respectively, and their live show gets a 10. Go buy this record NOW. You will thank me later.

Plus they are pals with Franz Ferdinand boys, so that's a pretty solid seal of approval.


Sons and Daughters- House In My Head
Sons and Daughters- Gilt Complex