These Guys are Good, in my mind

[obiwankobe]

Sons & Daughters
The Repulsion Box
[Domino; 2005]
Rating: 7.5




The Repulsion Box opens with several seconds of naked kickdrum hammering out a 4/4 stomp. The next 31 minutes are a headlong blur of scratchy guitar, Celtic and country influences, pounding rhythm, and Scottish accents, a brand of danceable Glasgow post-punk that actually makes a sonic point of its Scottishness. The adversarial vocal interplay of Scott Paterson and Adele Bethel provides a dramatic focal point for the band's thumping arrangements. In my review of their debut EP, last year's Love the Cup, I compared them to Prolapse with their shoegaze tendencies replaced by Highland folk and slide guitar, and the comparison still holds here.

As it turns out, the album's brief running time is something of a saving grace, as the band's relentless approach-- even the quiet songs ride fast, insistent beats-- is a bit numbing over the course of a whole LP. The music is intensely simple, almost minimalist, and Ailidh Lennon's bass (she switches to mandolin on opener "Medicine") locks in with drummer David Yow to create the irresistible undertow that churns Paterson's guitar into knotty tangles.

Even with the band's relatively monochromatic range, there are a few standout tracks. The jumpy scuzzbucket march "Dance Me In", Bethel taking lead against a chorus of "whoa-oh"ing Patersons as fierce snare drum crookedly crackles below. "Taste the Last Girl" rides a shuffle beat and features the album's biggest chorus, one of the few that doesn't explode from a more subdued verse. Paterson's slide guitar gets its best workout on "Choked", erupting in manic, violent outbursts.

The record's arid, unadorned sound-- as captured with almost live rawness by Nick Cave and PJ Harvey producer Victor Van Vugt-- does have its occasional drawbacks, one being that in some of her more outlandish moments of rage, Bethel's vocals stand out a little too strongly, such as her shrill screams on the chorus of "Gone" and some of her more emphatic shouts on "Red Receiver". But the rough-around-the-edges sound generally works in the band's favor, the record's feeling of spontaneity often proving one of its biggest assets. Sons & Daughters are far from perfect, but The Repulsion Box is an energetic, sometimes thrilling record by a band slowly but surely carving out a unique niche for themselves.

-Joe Tangari, August 12, 2005