Daughters
It all started with a Birthday Party cover, the cobweb-clearing post-punk of “Marry Me (Lie Lie).” Ever since then, Daughters have been on a collision course with themselves, shedding the blunt trauma approach of their first few releases for a sucker punch rhythm section and wildly expressive riffs, delivered at a feverish clip right alongside Alexis Marshall’s spot-on portrayal of a depraved preacher man. Considering his deceivingly simple start as a grindcore vocalist, it’s thrilling to see the guy seize every song like he does the stage — as some bizarre blend of Elvis, David Yow and Nick Cave. A logical extension of their last LP, *Hell Songs*, this is one of the year’s most rewarding highway-to-hell listens. We’re talking a filler-free record that reveals some serious subtleties on proper headphones, from the cymbal-rush climax of “The Dead Singer” to the hasty handclaps and crystalized chords of “The Unattractive, Portable Head.”
Just when you get to the age where sitting in traffic and switching back and forth from the conservative to the liberal talk radio station sounds more appealing then sifting through the bush-league releases of the day, Daughters comes through with an untouchable new record absolutely snuffing out your now-so-surly being. Bumper to bumper, late for work, window down and more and more your thinking that a cigarette and a beer coupled with these stellar jams would end all right now! Because that is exactly the kind of record Daughters' s/t is, the kind you can't stop turning up... The kind that satisfies every cultural / musical requisite a critical listener possesses while simultaneously reinventing the wheel... The kind that's so immediately gratifying that you don't even bother to compare your instincts with what today's internet has to say... The kind you won't have to remove from your automobile's CD player for months on end... None of that, “this band is my fine art project, musicianship is secondary because I am an artist foremost” garbage included... This is what the dudes in Daughters do and that fact has never been more apparent than in this record... Because, this time around, they absolutely nailed it! s/t is a ten.
The final Daughters record finds the part of the group that went on to form Fang Island taking the lead, resulting in a more accessible version of the band.
When a band is called Daughters, listeners might expect: (1) a female-dominated or female-fronted lineup, and (2) an introspective folk-rock or adult alternative approach along the lines of the Indigo Girls, the October Project, or 10,000 Maniacs.
by Graham "Gruhamed" Hartmann I once read online that Daughters vocalist Alexis Marshall’s style could be accurately compared to the sound of Elvis Presley being tortured. I would argue from more of a Jerry Lee Lewis on hallucinogenic drugs standpoint, but both are pretty damn accurate. This
The musical evolution of Rhode Island band Daughters over the last nine years has been nothing short of impressive.