Sons & Daughters @ The Troubadour
Wed, September 03, 2008 | Digg | Read →

 

 

Sons & Daughters played The Troubadour on what would have otherwise been just another perfectly-weathered-late-summer-eve in So-Cal on the southern tip of We-Ho. Instead, the Glasgow quartet  blew doors on a contentedly placid Tuesday night crowd, cranking it up a notch with the second song "Johnny Cash" from 04's Love The Cup. With each successive riff delivered by the drooling guitarist/vocalist Scott Patterson, the place got louder and, I'll say it godammit, happier, nay fucking groovier, no no no, jamminer, in a celtic indie-rock sorta way.

All the original members were there, save for Ailidh Lennon, replaced by a tall strapping fellow for this batch of gigs in support of their latest album This Gift (sorry man, forgot your name, but I left my pen in the car, what'd you want me to do, miss the goddam show?). "As you can see, our bass player has changed gender. Sorry, we can't do the mandolin songs, just the bass ones" sallied lead vocalist Adele Bethel in that irresistible Scottish accent, which she uses professionally to yelp, hoot and holler hellishly catchy pop tunes crafted by her flawlessly hip band.

Adele did the punk rock version of the diva dash the entirety of the stage, as always her make-up matched her outfit perfectly, and she heaped joyousness onto an "I love you" outloud-type crowd (sware I musta heard it at least 3 times, at least). Other wow songs for my virgin Sons & Daughters ears were Killer and Chains, with killer (pun!) POG'd out capo-strums and bludgeoning drums dealt by Sir David Gow (I just gave him the Sir cause it sounds fuckin' sweet, he's probably not knighted though).

By far the best song was their new one played at the end of their initial set, the name of which eluded me (again, the pen was m.i.a. I say); it was led off by a monster riff and spittake by Scott as the rest of the band slammed in on the intro, although I must admit the spittake sprinkled my Opus Dai shirt, with a few leftover drops coming to rest on my forehead (that's what I get for staring too close at his fancy-pedal-footwork!). Nic Harcourt recommended to me that I check out this band 4 years ago, it took me a while but I'm pretty goddam sure this won't be the last time I see Sons & Daughters brand their music on The States. Where the hell have I been?

David "Uh-oh Spaghettio's" Brooks