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Bringing together A collective of Louisville musicians who previously played in acts such as Rachel’s, Shipping News, Dead Child and Grand Prize, King’s Daughters & Sons create a tapestry of story telling that is woven deep into the soil of Southern mythology, melancholia and expert songwriting. It tip toes accross faintly remembered rock genres of the past and present. Their sublime album “If Then Not When” snuck out in November through the revered Chemikal Underground label. It would be a tragedy if it was overlooked.
There’s impressive diversity at work throughout this long player; from the pastoral folksy looseness of “Arc Of The Absentees” (led by the elegant tones of Rachel Grimes) to the country twang of murder ballad “Dead Letter Office” and the ghostly instrumental “A Storm Kept Them Away”. “Sleeping Colony” is the most memorable moment King’s Daughters & Sons have committed to tape so far – omnimously striding accross vast landscapes, encapsulating the struggle of long journeys and the tragedy of the every day. Dappled with Joe Manning’s solumn narrative (he possess the croak of Lou Reed and the country lip curl of a weary Johnny Cash) it’s gloriously eneveloping rhythmic strands of hammered notes and spolendid low key instrumental textures and skeletal guitar lines are redolant of the intricate elegeance of Low and the majesterial historical splendour of early I Like Trains, it’s vast rumble giving way to glorious piano stomp in it’s last few minutes.
King’s Daughters & Sons are an outfit not to be overlooked it would be criminal.
