Sons and Daughters' Reality Show

BY Alex MolotkowPublished Jan 1, 2006

Sons and Daughters' sound is the result of bubbling chemistry, friction and emotional extrication. "I think honesty is one of the core elements of the band. We just really want to have honesty, and a stripped-back sound," says Adele Bethel, founder, singer and chief lyricist. Adele conceived Sons and Daughters while on tour with Arab Strap, and soon recruited a line-up consisting of Arab Strap tour-mate David Gow, long-time friend Ailidh Lennon, and local musician Scott Paterson. Without a framework in mind, their music became the natural product of a group of enthused rock fans: dynamic, inspired rock'n'roll. The elements of folk, blues and country that underline their songs serve to reinforce the band's earnest, palpable nature — they are dramatic performers, but they perform as people, and not as caricatures.

These Glaswegians have a preoccupation with darkness that has drawn comparisons to such intense figures as PJ Harvey and the Kills. The band, however, are in a league of their own — they project the intensity of their own tumultuous experience, rather than reproduce themes for effect.

Their new album, The Repulsion Box, is frenetic, danceable, and discordant. It is the seismic release of the tension that pervaded their first EP, Love the Cup — tension between Adele and singer/guitarist Scott Patterson's salacious, swapped vocals, between subtle guitar twitches and aggressive outpourings. The idea was to capture the unravelled force of the band's live show. "In terms of that intensity and violence, I think this record really just came from having an idea for a song, pulling it out and just playing it live that night. You're always going to deliver something more ferociously in front of an audience as opposed to sitting in a room, sitting in a recording studio." It doesn't get any more real than that.

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