So... that whole selling out thing. Can someone tell me what it actually means? Growing up listening to punk music, I always found that it was almost synonymous with signing to a major label, or about how many records the band sells. Generally, selling out was a popularity thing, and it got thrown at any band that had the audacity to sell more than a few thousand records. But that isn't really selling out. I thought selling out was changing to an easier to digest sound for the purpose of selling more records. With the term being so misapplied, I hate using it, but I have to admit that when I first heard Sons and Daughters new single "Dance Me In", my impression was that they had sold out.
Gone from that song, it seemed, was the mixture of country, punk and folk that made up Love the Cup. Replacing it was what sounded like a highly compressed, rather generic, popular MTV indie rock. In some ways, that initial impression was a reasonable guess at the contents of The Repulsion Box. For some inexplicable reason, the band has taken their song writing formula, and basically sped it all up and added a rockabilly beat. They did it to "Johnny Cash" on the UK re-release of Love the Cup, and they've done it for almost the whole of The Repulsion Box. Opener "Medicine" sets the exact tone for the rest of the album, where it continues, almost unabated, with only "Chocked" breaking the general mould of the album, returning to a slower, more melancholic and even sinister sound.
In saying that and regardless of band and music industry politics, the fact is that, just like the re-released version of "Johnny Cash", The Repulsion Box is still a wonderful creation. The above mentioned "Medicine" is the finest song on the album, and beyond the single, which sounds much stronger on record than MTV2 would have you believe, the country, punk and folk influences are still all there. As is the incredible melodic flow of the songs. It just so happens that it's all been sped up a little bit. But that's what it keeps coming back to - the speed.
Although making the songs slightly easier to digest for a mainstream audience, it adds very little to them. In too many cases, it seems to take away a little bit of what the song could have been. Slowed down, and recorded in the way that I'm sure they were written, the songs on The Repulsion Box might not be quite so catchy and easy to remember, but they would have something even more special than they do presented this way.
The sad fact is that, as good as this album is, it could have been so much more. Taking it at face value, it is still head and shoulders above just about anything else floating around in the UK's indie scene and is well deserving of the sales. I'm sure it will notch up in the coming months. It's just sad to have to reconcile what it is with what it isn't. And, sadly, the dominating feeling is what it isn't.
For a band to be landed with the unfortunate "next big thing" title, Sons and Daughters have managed to create a memorable album. The album is rescued by their ability to write a good song, a rather odd and wide selection of instruments, and that unbelievable melodic flow I mentioned earlier. It is well worth at least a listen. The thing is, though, that as good an album as The Repulsion Box is, it should always be remembered for what it could have been, not, unfortunately, what it is.
