Sons n Stripes

Thanks to Neil for keeping Beard blog alive this past month while I've been moving flat. I'm still not online at home, so Partick library has been my second office effectively. Beard 4 will be with you at the end of the month (honest!) and it's gonna blow your minds!
In the meantime, here are a couple of reviews of new albums out this week.

Sons and Daughters
The Repulsion Box
(Domino)

If David Lynch was to hold a ceilidh Sons and Daughters would be the perfect house band. This, the band’s full length debut, is a raw, energetic affair, propelled by rowdy rockabilly rhythms and bristling guitar. Adele Bethel lashes out at sleazes, cheats and killers in her marvellous Glaswegian snarl, conveying anger, mockery and hurt. Nick Cave and ‘80s roots-punks Gun Club are obvious reference points, but there are strong hints of Celtic folk in the windswept choruses of ‘Dance Me In’ and ‘Royally Used’. Dark, sinister and sexy, it’s as assured a debut as could be hoped for.

White Stripes
Get Behind Me Satan
(XL)

Elephant caught the White Stripes in their candy coloured pomp. It was their Big Rock Album, the behemoth that propelled them to headline slots and MTV Awards. As an album, however, it was a little unsatisfying, lacking the hunger or originality of their first three albums. And, man, was that squirrel song irritating. The sly references to the Jack ‘n Meg siblings or spouses debate were amusing enough, but ultimately disingenuous.
On Get Behind Me Satan the Stripes finally drop the brother and sister act and reveal themselves. In breaking their own rules they’ve produced something messier, weirder and far more engaging than Elephant. The disco-metal strut of Blue Orchid is atypical: this is largely an album of front porch strums, gospel-tinged piano and slapdash percussion.
There’s a newfound sense of mischief at work. When the spooky marimba led soiree of ‘Nurse’ is crashed by clatter of drums and distortion an illicit thrill races up the spine. It’s only the first of several noisy tricks Jack has up his sleeve. ‘Red Rain’ sees a fairground like toy piano melody morph into a ravaged blues riff, while the epic ‘Take Take Take’ has Jack’s piano fight it out with Meg’s timpani as he sings of chasing Rita Hayworth for an autograph, a clear reference to his newfound celebrity.
Hanging out with Beck seems to have put a spring in Jack’s step. ‘The Denial Twist’ is fresher and wittier than anything on the diminutive scientologist’s latest album, while ‘Doorbell’ is the Stripe’s most irresistible pop song since ‘Hotel Yorba’. Loretta Lynn’s influence looms over several tracks, notably the Appalachian knees up ‘Little Ghost’ and the closing ‘I Ain’t That Lonely Yet’. Reminiscent of Lynn’s beautiful ‘Miss Being Mrs’, itself a lament to lost love, it finds Jack alone and lovelorn at the piano, picking out a wistful gospel tinged melody.
They’ve said goodbye to the garage. Where the Stripes will go next is anyone’s guess.

Sons And Daughters will be back in Beard #4!