Music - Part 252 - The Sons

The Sons – Heading Into Land (Cannon Fodder Recordings)

CD/DL

Out Now

Alternative guitar pop quintet, The Sons release their new album.  

Like My Little Brother, The Sons have an ability to write a superbly catchy and perfect song.  Hailing from the music metropolis that is Derby, tunes are full-on musical affairs with layered instruments and superbly arranged backings from the underpinning piano to the strong vocals of Paul Herron.  To be fair they don’t look like pop stars, but then neither do Coldplay.  There’s no musical connection other than there’s no reason why The Sons shouldn’t be as popular.

Lead single Death Love Money is case in point.  It’s superb.  Memorable, fast-paced and bouncing along like a rubber ball on tarmac, it’s one of the many fine moments on the album.  Maybe think Sergeant Pepper with added sea salt.

The Sons deserve to be hugely commended on their production skills.  Each track is complex but never sounding cluttered, always sounding grand and elaborate much like George Martin had the skill for.  Now that is a comparison.

When I Want To could be a 60s outtake, and that seems to be where a lot of their influences stem from with the added bonus of a modern feel.  Finally recorded and made with the help of a crowdfunding scheme, it’s amazing that no record company wold pick up on Heading Into Land first, and if any of them have any sense they will do now and start a heavy promotion campaign.

Latest single Relic is maybe an unlikely choice.  It’s slower paced and maybe doesn’t have the infectious chorus that other tracks on the album may have, but it could be a song that gets picked up on radio stations and played to death.  Time will tell.

They’re clearly a band with a sense of fun too as a cheeky wink to Queen’s Flash appears on Flash & Bang, and they can write a lyric or two too “How in the world are you gonna save me, when you can barely help yourself” is the opening line to Hard Life, another sing-along beauty.

Heading Into Land is a very special album and one that deserves to be heard.

8.75/10

Links
The Sons website
The Sons on Twitter
MyLittleBrother on hiapop


Published on Louder Than War 13/07/14 - here