Sons and Daughters

Sons and Daughters are clearly well thought of, having been signed to Domino Records and recruited as support for both The Delgados and Franz Ferdinand on recent tours. Now, nearly 100 gigs into their 2004, they're setting out on their own to finish off the year. Tonight they pitch up at Manchester's Night & Day.

It's an odd venue, long and thin with a third of the floor space covered by the bar or left empty by the punters due to a strategically placed pillar no more than 6 feet from the stage. However, the stage boards have carried the feet of some revered artists, and the place has an important part to play in the Manchester scene.

The length of the room seems to benefit Sons and Daughters, as none of them appear particularly keen on engaging the audience in any eye contact. Scot Paterson employs a thousand yard stare to the back whilst Adele Bethel prefers to fix on the roof. Meanwhile Ailidh Lennon stands resolutely out of the spotlight provided for her whilst David Gow's drum kit is so far to the back of the stage you wonder if all this touring has caused him to fall out with his bandmates.

Their songs suggest they're a bit moody too. They evolve, slow burning to a noisy crescendo, with mostly Bethel providing the dark, brooding vocals, which sadly were lost in the mix on this evening, whilst Paterson provides a growling reply for the most part, particularly in the opener, 'Fight', and 'La Lune'.

What makes Sons & Daughters unusual is the structure of their songs. The traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus textbook has been discarded, instruments providing the repeat parts at the end of the verses. When that instrument is the voice, it is a simple repetitive 'whoo' or an 'a ha', otherwise the verse is separated by a stand out riff from guitar, bass or the mandolin, the latter of which is cleverly worked into many tracks. It is, however, used sparingly, a restraint that prevents them being singled out as an outfit with a purely celtic appeal (as can happen to many Scottish bands).

Only the single from this autumn, 'Johnny Cash', tips it's hat towards more regular songwriting, Paterson taking lead vocal on the most raucous tune of the evening, a proper 3 minute pop song that received regular play on 6 Music on release.

It's clear that the band is not going to be to everyone's taste. 'Johnny Cash' apart, the music is not immediately accessible, but it's worth persevering as it is wonderfully layered together. Check out the mini-album 'Love the Cup'. Chances are, if you like what you hear on there, you could end up loving this band for a long time.

FUTURE GIGS

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