The Bunker, Glasgow
07/03/04
A free gig by the one of Scotland’s most hotly tipped bands certainly wasn’t to be sniffed at, and having trawled the streets of Glasgow in an effort to find the mysterious Bunker Bar expecting to find a smelly 3m² hole in the ground, it was quite a surprise to walk into a long room with couches, computer screens and countless TVs. Very swanky.
Unfortunately, all of the gloss was the key betrayer of Sons and Daughters that evening, feeding them a cold, harsh sound - burying the vocals most of the time, yet amplifying them out of proportion whenever the aggression was stepped up. But despite the setbacks the evening wasn’t a total loss. Whenever they unleashed tracks from their Love the Cup mini-album, bits and pieces of sound would fall into sync like the waves of a late night AM radio. Newcomers to the band may have found it to be a tough introduction, and even for the fans, the newer songs couldn’t quite hit home properly under the circumstances, yet the gathered audience was still very receptive towards the mix of raw rock with Scottish folk influences, which simply overflows with energy and style.
When reduced to the basics, Sons and Daughters have a pounding drum beat and they’re not afraid to use it, so tracks like ‘Fight’ and ‘Johnny Cash’ battled viciously for the attention they deserved, even if the rough accents of Adele Bethel and Scott Paterson couldn’t be picked up at all times. Surprisingly, though, the real show stoppers played with most power were the mandolin fuelled dirge of ‘La Lune’ and the Throwing Muses-esque stomp of ‘Blood’, offering a ragged salvation amongst the shiny surfaces.
Still, it was only a free taster of bigger things to come, and by the end of May, Sons and Daughters will have been to the US and completed their tour of the UK with Franz Ferdinand, so soon their profile is going to be looking very different.
Steven McCarron
Photo: Stuart Reidman
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