Sons and Daughters
Issue #25
The Scottish foursome tries bitter on for size with The Repulsion Box
By Sujan Hong
Published: September 1st, 2005 | 3:55pm
The Scottish quartet Sons and Daughters had the unusual experience of seeing their debut record, the punchy Love the Cup EP, released in the States before it was ever available in their own country. “It was really weird seeing the record in shops in Glasgow for $30,” says lead vocalist-guitarist Adele Bethel. “We just felt so terrible about that.”
The band won’t have to worry about exorbitant import prices on their new full-length, The Repulsion Box (Domino). The cow-punk folk of Love the Cup carries over, but as the title may suggest, The Repulsion Box also screeches and seethes.
Bethel credits the newfound aggression to nearly a full year of nonstop touring. “When we first started the band, we were quite shy in front of people. There’s not a massive amount of confidence on the last record, as opposed to the new one. Playing live is quite cathartic. We just let ourselves go,” she says. “Our producer [Victor Van Vugt] told us, ‘Your strength is in your live performance, and you can’t quite hear that on the first record. Let’s try to capture that.’”
Sons and Daughters (rounded out with drummer David Gow, bassist Ailidh Lennon, and guitarist-vocalist Scott Paterson) visit darker, fiercer territory on The Repulsion Box. Song titles like “Choked,” “Monsters,” and “Hunt” are ominous and deliberately pithy. “I think there was a bit too much space on the first record,” Bethel says. “The songs are not very clear [as to] what they’re about. On this one, we tried to create our own world in terms of lyrics and think how a writer would write a story, rather than just piecing something together. It’s more articulate this time.”
“Rama Lama” begins innocently but tentative, sounding like a spooky, cigarette ash-covered version of Ennio Morricone’s classic theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Paterson offers up a set of smoky la-las when all hell breaks, and Bethel charges through with, “And hang her out, hang her out, hang her out to dry.” On “Choked” Bethel asserts, “We’re waiting, we’re waiting” while Paterson’s guitar creeps along before crashing in.
Bethel is quick to squash any inkling that The Repulsion Box is specifically a personal record. “It’s not about a million ex-boyfriends,” she points out. “When I sat down and wrote ‘Choked,’ it was really meant to be about rumors and how they can spread and create a concrete idea. When I looked back, though, maybe subconsciously there’s a little element of politics involved.” Bethel also says that it’s really hard to write beautiful or happy songs. “There’s something slightly insincere about it, but that’s just me being terribly pessimistic.”
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