Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Urgent and in your face , September 14, 2005
I picked this CD up because I thought it contained their excellent song "Johnny Cash", which I heard on the radio but at the time of this purchase I didn't know the song's title. Still, there are a number of fast paced, frenetic, "grab-your-shirt-by-the-collar" songs that demand your attention. "Medicine" starts off the album smartly with a sparse arrangement, sort of like acoustic punk. "Choked" reminds me a little of Franz Ferdinand's "40 Ft", "Dance Me In" is a catchy pop corker. I also like "Red Receiver", one of the album's songs getting some airplay on the radio. When I first heard Sons and Daughters they reminded me of a dark, twisted version of Dexy's Midnight Runners of the 1980s "Come On, Eileen" fame. For some reason, I got the impression there were 6 or 7 people in the band instead of being a quartet. Maybe it's the fullness of the sound or the backing vocals.
I'm drawn to bands that have multiple vocalists/harmonies, especially alternating male/female vocals, e.g., Belle and Sebastian, Sugarcubes, The Beautiful South, among others. Adele Bethel's vocals are fierce, urgent, and even pretty scary at times. I also like the way the vocals keep the Scottish accent intact, unlike a lot of British vocals where the accents are weirdly "Americanized" like Shirley Manson of Garbage, for example. The music resembles Violent Femmes, a little Throwing Muses, a little Smiths and a dash of The Fall. Many of the songs are less than 3 minutes in length so the album moves along pretty quickly. There are jagged acoustic/electric guitars, stompy, trashy drums, and touches of piano and mandolin.
There seems to be no end to the riches of impressive bands coming out of Scotland in the last few years and Sons and Daughters are only the latest example. I will be looking forward to picking up the mini-album "Love The Cup" which preceded this album. That CD does contain "Johnny Cash".
*** 1/2 stars (but probably will move higher after repeated plays).
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
this record really grows on you, August 24, 2005
I bought this disc after hearing "dance me in" which i really think is a fantastic song. I guess from "dance me in" i figured the whole record would have a more pop angle to it. I was really dissapointed at first that it ended up sounding a lot like celtic music which i usually avoid like the plague.
Thing is, i liked "dance me in" so much i forced myself to listen to this record a few more times, and now ive found myself really sucked in. They do a great job and it has a really unique sound. It will be interesting to see if the hype machine gets behind them.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Short and brutal - quite perfect!, June 28, 2005
The first thing I will tell you is that 'The Repulsion Box' is just ten songs and 31 minutes long. It is not intended as a warning as the second thing I will say about it is that, from the opening drum beat of 'Medicine' to the sudden final chord of 'Gone', it is as near perfect as any album I have heard.
In a way that bands of this genre are so often not (and it is an just an observation, not a criticism) Sons and Daughters have a crystal-clear touch to their sound and it somehow makes the songs seem much longer than they actually are. Few albums manage the focus of The Repulsion Box and no doubt all the influences were put into the equation but ultimately, when it came to making the journey, absolutely everything that was not strictly necessary was left behind. The result is influenced but nothing more and the band wrote the whole lot so it is highly original and done to perfection. Quite amazingly six tracks attain completeness in less than three minutes, so there are no self-indulgent ramblings. This is straight-talking music! The longest track, Rama Lama, which seems to involve almost endless twists and turns, is however only just over 5 minutes long!
The vocals are mainly by Adele Bethel, with backing by Scott Paterson, though that is not really a fair reflection of the way it works because they also alternate vocals in several songs and this works to spectacular effect; it is something that makes Sons and Daughters really stand out and it develops as the album progresses.
The album starts with the rather upbeat 'Medicine' but the rot sets in emotionally, not musically, with 'Red Receiver' which is excellent. 'Dance Me In' is incredibly catchy and the band saves some of its heaviest work for this song but the band is so good that you often almost don't notice it because it is perfectly in tune with the music. It reaches an apogee in 'Monsters', one of my favourite tracks on the album, when Adele at her petulant best issues an ultimatum of love gone-badly-wrong, only to be answered by Scott who gets to sing one of the best knock-back lyrics:
Monogamy for you it seems is just black and blue.
All the best psychotic lovers ain't got nothing on you!
The next track is 'Rama Lama', as mentioned above, and another case in point before finishing with 'Royally Used' and 'Gone'. Beyond that there is little more to say. It is just 31 minutes of sheer brilliance!
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