+ SONS & DAUGHTERS
CAMDEN, BARFLY - 25.08.04
Sons and Daughters
I was more curious to see this band than the main band this evening after falling in love with “Love the Cup”. Thankfully there was a decent crowd to watch them by the time they took to the stage. Two girls and two guys came on, the girls looked particularly stunning in their 50’s dresses and retro shoes. The bassist is reminiscent of the guitarist of Franz Ferdinand, all angular and poised, the female guitarist looked gloriously disinterested throughout the entire set. They played songs from their mini-album, which sounded fantastic. 'Johnny Cash', which will be released as a single, is an absolute gem of a song, 'Start to End' is brilliant and 'My Blood' has an enormous fantastic finish. They also play a new song, which will appear on their full-length album, which is really just more of the same. Singing in their Scottish accents is most endearing and fits brilliantly with their country sound. If there was a Mid-west in Scotland this is what it would sound like. It’s fun, loud and scarily good! As this gig was sponsored by XFM they should get more exposure than before. The crowd didn’t really seem that receptive to them and the bassist commented on the fact that this has been the tamest audience that they have had. They are supporting The Delgados in October and hopefully by then they will get the reception that they deserve!
Fiery Furnaces
They take to the stage too early and have to leave again as they have not been introduced by the missing XFM DJ. They should have just started playing but they stand at the side of the stage and we wait…and wait until finally he appeared. Introductions over, the drummer rests his hat on the drum set, the two heavy fringed men (one being Eleanor’s brother) get into place on either side of Eleanor and they begin their set in earnest. It’s filled with songs old and new. Eleanor is dressed what looks like a Gap outfit, beige trousers and a shirt but where she takes you has nothing to do with the mainstream. Obscure lyrics, vaudeville type vocals (in a good way!) and a musical style not far from the Velvet Underground is what we were treated to. Rough Trade thought their demo was good enough to be released as their debut without adding any extra production, so I was curious to see what they were like live. If you thought watching the Pixies was relentless, this ups the ante! There is never a break from the music the entire time. One song rolls into the next and watching them I became quite transfixed. Transfixed by her voice, which is so particular and also her energy. She was like a neverending Duracell battery! Their new material is similar to their debut Gallowsbird Bark but it’s still good quality and highly original. Saying all that I’m still undecided about them, not sure it’s really my cup of tea, too much milk or not enough I just can’t decide.
Review by Sonia Pagliari