The new-wave post-punk sound is living on in Scotland as if late 80s Indie and early 90s Brit-pop never happened. The latest band to emerge from Glasgow are Sons & Daughters, formed from the ashes of Arab Strap, who released their energetic but mostly disjointed debut The Repulsion Box in the summer of 2005. Like many bands who have grafted their trade and cut their teeth on the live circuit, it captures the sound and the intensity but misses much of the furious energy and adrenaline of a performance. With the follow-up, This Gift, produced by ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, the same approach has been taken - an album of three minute punchy pop-punk songs, led by the sparky vocals of front woman Adele Bethel, with guitarist Scott Paterson relegated to mainly backing vocals. With this combination, the band has progressed from their debut, while staying true to their sound.The album kicks off with the wonderful first single Gilt Complex, a stark guitar riff leading in the bass before Bethel takes over and Paterson fills in the gaps. The effect is like Siouxsie & The Banshees kicking out Franz Ferdinand. Bethel has a perfect voice and delivery, a mix of stropy twenty-something and strutting siren. There are distinct similarities with Australia's Operator Please fused with bitter-sweet recollection: 'Gilt complex, poison pen, she's signing her name and she's forgetting her friends' and '...break her neck, and now she worries for the good of her wealth...useless effect and now she suffers, destroying herself...'. It is both refreshing and obvious to start an album about how soul-destroying fame and fortune can be (dubbed car-crash celebrity culture). The approach has become a cliché.
'Split Lips' is another cracking pop song, Bethel's vocals twisting between stabbing guitars. A tale of lost love. She mixes repeating lyrics with lyricless vocals and at just over two minutes it's gone in a flash of brilliance.
'The Nest' is probably the album highlight, a dark creepy tale with some delicious guitars. Bethel mixes fairy tale with horror movie, her voice oscillating with consummate ease. The song was inspired by Kathy Come Home by Ken Loach and does little to glamorise homelessness. 'Once she had a dream of the son she'll never have' is stunning.
After such a great start, This Gift starts to lose it's way. The main problem is a continuation of a style that manifests toward the end of Gilt Complex and The Nest - the lyricless vocal. This is blatantly evident at the start of 'Rebel With The Ghost', a kind of football terrace chant. Even with Bethel comes in, the backing vocals are hopelessly uninspired. The song is about the effects of depression and viewing yourself as invisible, a concept lost in the badly misjudged timing of the song's arrangement and production. The band are staying true to their punk-pop sound at the cost of serious subject matter. It is one of these songs that works live. The start of 'Chains' is even worse. Paterson's contribution, again, is desperately simplistic and more than a bit irritating as Bethel is on top form. The constant wailing vocals and jangling percussion drown out the guitars like a bad Coral b-side. Even though it's refreshing these days to find an album of songs that fade rather than just stop, it only compounds the frustration that we are in a dip.
Annoyingly this downward trend continues with the title track. Some brilliant guitars are ruined by a kind of duelling banjo vocals. Once this has passed, Bethel is back in engaging form and the song takes shape, emo-punk verses and a flowing no-nonsense chorus. You get the impression that the ooo-ing battle between Bethel and Paterson was originally designed to be a live favourite, a Freddy Mercury sing-back moment which doesn't quite work in the studio. Thankfully the third outing which closes the track is cut short.
'Darling', the band's second single taken from the Julie Christie film of the same name, is a revelation. Another complete well crafted song, the guitars blending perfectly with Bethel's punchy vocals, her voice lifting at the right moments. Paterson (and the rest of the band presumably) fill in to add depth and quality. 'Twisting in, twisting out the knife. Paying for your past strife. She'll make a darling cry...' are more bitter-sweet lyrics from another upbeat vocal. 'Flags' is another three minute wonder in the same mould as the title track, recalling a friend escaping from tragedy by boat: 'I'm thinking of you flat out cold beneath the starboard floor...'. It's tinged with darkness and Bethel shows the depth of her voice - light but powerful, the accent ever present. 'Iodine' is the second half of 'Flags', again suffering from an over-use of empty vocals but washed with delicate vibrant guitars. It sounds inspired by The Auteurs.
'The Bell' has an immediate sexy swagger, fast guitars and vocals punctured by slow melodic plodding. It creates an odd effect. 'House In My Head' follows the same formula, more punk than pop -Bethel screaming the chorus. Like before, the song's lyrics speak of inner conflict and alienation: 'Sometimes the conversation leads roads out to the south, past leaking roofs and dry, dry mouths. So this isolation, all too hard on me...it was somebody I knew threw away the key'. She even throws in an Emily Dickinson reference: 'funeral march in my brain'. Great stuff but the ending (and false ending) doesn't work.
The album closes with indifferent 'Goodbye Service' - the combination of vocals and lacklustre guitars brings the album to a close in less than climactic style. It feels like the end of a tiring journey or a furious gig has come to an end when with two minutes to go, thing slow to a crawl and a great guitar arrangement is drowned out by Bethel who has no more to say but goes on saying it anyway. It is an attempt to end the album in rousing style but is messy and uninspired.
If you are lucky enough to get the bonus track version of This Gift, you will get a wonderful version of Adamski's Killer, probably a live favourite. Bethel sings it completely straight and flat and it's a great cover. It is clear why it was never added as an album track.
This Gift is not quite the groundbreaking mainstream album Sons & Daughters wanted - but maybe that is the point. They still sound like an indie band making indie music, true to their sound and exciting live. Much of This Gift plays out like a live performance, shaped by slick production, and it is clear that Bernard Butler has had a major influence. The guitar sound is varied and strong, and when everything comes together the songs work. But some of the vocal sound suffers from a lack of ideas which is lazy and frustrating. Sons & Daughters has improved on the 2005 debut and the band now sound experienced, intelligent and well-travelled. Let's hope they continue to go further...
-- CS
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