It can be ridiculously hard to put bands into genres sometimes, and normally it’s because they don’t want to be. Sons and Daughters refuse to be anything less than brilliant but nothing more than mysterious, dark and so intense that they make a Chuck Palahniuk novel seem like something JK Rowling has just knocked off.

Currently releasing music on the locally iconic Fence Records, the support act for the evening, The Red Well, gave us a glimpse at the next generation of Scottish talent ready to pounce and spread their magic around the country, and the world, next year. At times sounding like a more laid back Muse and at times sounding like The Open with a slightly more edgy sound, they showed great diversity and musical ability. Some tunes were clearly much more polished than others, these being their more upbeat, danceable tunes. The crowd stood attentively throughout and provided them with some much deserved applause and those students there who had enough money, i.e. those that weren’t your typical student binge drinkers, went off to buy their EP.

Scotland currently has a gaggle of acts ready to break out of their eggs and into the world next year and it’s a scene that is just as vibrant as London’s and doesn’t produce nearly as much junk. KAIN, The Red Bee Society, Clearfall and Poor Old Ben all have what it takes to get the reviews and get the recognition that will take them to the top of the Scottish ladder. Franz will be taking a few months out next year no doubt so whilst they’re gone, we’re going to need someone to replace them.

But back to the point. Not many bands can boast multi-instrumentalists and a Mandolin player, at least not ones that are any good and aren’t some weird sort of in bred family folk act. Although in saying this, one audience member standing behind us did comment; “Look at them, they all look so similar. I swear they’re all related!” Interesting to say the least. Bursting into “Fight” they enamoured the audience with its foot stomping rhythm and shout along lyrics with Scott and Adele immediately going into psycho mode and looking completely possessed; Scott, stamping his foot on the ground so hard that you could hear it over the music and Adele screaming into the microphone at times contorting her pretty face into some scary “I’m a tough bitch, me” look. Being at the front, you felt kind of vulnerable.

They ripped through nearly all the tracks from their fantastic debut release, “Love The Cup”, and threw in a plethora of new tracks which seemed to go down a more danceable route than their previous gothic country pop creations. It was “Johnny Cash” that really got the crowd going thanks to its radio airplay and semi commercial success. The crowd in general seemed pretty dead during their songs, apart from a small pogoing troupe of gents, but seemed to really appreciate them and wanted to hear more. If only there had been a bit more dancing!

We managed to grab a word with Adele after the show and congratulated her on her performance. She seemed genuinely flattered and claimed to really have enjoyed the gig. When asked about what release plans are for the coming year she said we can expect a couple of singles before a full album release hopefully in June. You heard it here first, folks!

So how can we sum them up? Tuneful, melodic, powerful, dark and the-best-thing-to-come-out-of-Scotland-since-Franz. Just please, don’t sing the theme tune to that crappy eponymous soap, they really don’t like that.

Review by Jason Edwards

www.sonsanddaughtersloveyou.co.uk
www.fencerecords.com/folks/redwell_intro