Monday, January 21, 2008

Album Review: Sons and Daughters "This Gift"


Sons and Daughters' third studio album, This Gift comes out on 28/01/08, a full three years after we all gracefully received The Repulsion Box. Luckily, I was able to get an advance copy of the album (muchas gracias seƱor) and can report that time has not dulled the edge on Sons and Daughters.

By far the two best tracks are This Gift and Iodine. To paraphrase F.Scott Fitzgerald, "This Gift is a tour de force, but Iodine is a confession of faith." In the title track, the lyrics spring out of Adele Bethel's mouth like spit wrapped in lead - a beautiful verbal impact you can feel. Iodine delivers with sensual intensity never matched by any other track on the album. A leather clad valentine it's a gift and a dangerous thing of beauty.

After I listened through the album a number of times I felt like a masochist left wanting more.

Overall, This Gift is a solid release. But it's what it isn't that defines it for me: neither revolutionary or evolutionary. It sounds cloned - the bad bits were taken, the good bits left behind, but the unique bits somehow got lost in the shuffle. It's everything in the genre albeit with Bethel. Gow, Lennon, and Paterson are there too - don't pile on me - and their adroit playing on This Gift really shines in the title track, Iodine (especially), Rebel With the Ghost, and Gilt Complex. It's just that I don't hear the "fist through the wall" excitement and freshness of old.

For example, track three The Nest really reminds me of Infadels, Hard-Fi, and Kaiser Chiefs. I think that's weird. And most everyone will hear the homage to Iggy Pop's Lust for Life in Darling - the underlying drum and guitar work paired with dueling vocals sell this song for me though.

All negative energy aside, Gilt Complex, an up tempo foot stomping track with a compelling guitar hook is a cracker of a tune. I think it would make a great opening for a teen horror movie - you know, fast cars, the inevitable crash, and the even more inevitable blood.



In Rebel With the Ghost, I can hear a little of the old pissy-ness. In fact you can hear (finally) a little bit of Glasgow. I personally like hearing where a band comes from. It makes the song for me when she sings "I tre-eye to fight but my hands and feet are feyd-in."

This could be one of those albums that grows on you. It's definitely got a couple great tracks that I know I'm going to listen to repeatedly. In This Gift though Sons And Daughters sound like an Audi R8 on cruise control - lots of potential for white knuckle action that's squandered in favor of fuel efficiency.

If you want a pretty much completely different opinion, I suggest you go to Consequence of Sound and read Alex Young's review of This Gift. He pays it considerable high praise.

Let me know what you think.


Overall: 3.525 out of 5


UPDATE:

I've found a few more reviews since I posted:

MusicOMH.com by Jenni Cole: 4 out of 5 stars

entertainmentie.com by Lauren Murphy: 3.5 out of 5 stars

skiddle.com by Richard Dyer: Preview with some background notes and quotes from Adele Bethel.

Note: The Libertine and I employ different rating schemata. I rate individual songs on an album on a scale of 0-5 and then take the average. Here is how I arrived at my rating:

1. Gilt Complex: 4.2
2. Split Lips: 3.6
3. The Nest: 3.0
4. Rebel With The Ghost: 4.0
5. Chains: 3.0
6. This Gift: 4.5
7. Darling: 3.0
8. Flags: 3.0
9. Iodine: 4.5
10. The Bell: 3.5
11. House In My Head: 3.0
12. Goodbye Service: 3.0

Total: 42.3/12 = 3.525


I believe in the artist's right to album integrity (exemplified by Radiohead’s refusal to release their catalogue for purchase on a track by track basis).However, not every band is created equal. Same goes for songs. As we all know, some albums have only 1 or 2 good songs. I want to be able to show my readers which tracks are the “stand outs” in case they don’t want to, or can’t afford to, purchase an entire album.

Every rating system is inherently subjective and a number, no matter how it is derived, can't definitively capture whether an album is good, bad, or in the middle. If you don’t agree with my review, I welcome your comments or email and am open to reconsider my initial views.

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