After taking an eight years long hiatus, Providence, Rhode Island Noise Rock band DAUGHTERS came back last year with “You Won’t Get What You Want”, their first full length album since 2010. It has been praised by many, both fans and critics, as their strongest yet. As a band in constant evolution, you won’t find as many of the spastic tempo changes and high pitched screamed vocals that were present on their debut, Canada Songs. Much of the grindcore/mathcore is gone, having been replaced with a noisy, dark, atmospheric and truly nightmarish record. Anyone who enjoys somber music should give it a listen. They are currently on tour in North America and are heading to Europe in April. Make sure you get tickets, as many of the dates are already sold out (including tonight’s Montreal show!) and it’s not a show that you want to miss!
Name five songs that you consider “perfect songs” and explain why or what they mean to you.
Carmelita by A.S. FANNING
I’ll Come Running by NEIL DIAMOND
Pop Life by PRINCE
Love Without Emotion by PISSED JEANS
Knew Her Gone by ONLY LIVING WITNESS
All these songs mean something different to me while all carrying the same value. I find a sincere emotion in the content, either lyrically or in the delivery. I don’t necessarily feel a song needs to be played flawlessly to be perfect; I’d really prefer it not be.
Which music genre do you listen to the most? List your five favorite albums in that genre.
I don’t have a genre preference. My musical preferences fluctuate, much like the weather as of late. For conversation’s sake, I’ll choose Jazz and go with:
JOHN COLTRANE – Meditations
ROLAND KIRK – The Inflated Tear’
ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS – Free For All
PHARAOH SANDERS – Karma
CHARLES MINGUS – Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Five favorite rappers of all tome? (Feel free to do five favorite vocalists, guitarists or drummers instead.)
As a singer myself, I’ll have to choose the vocalist option. And as more of a performer than a proper singer, I’ll make it more about performers; not to imply the two are mutually exclusive. I find energy much more enjoyable and exciting than the ability to hit the proper note or “carry a tune”. When I think of my favorite vocalists: BETH GIBBONS, IGGY POP, TOM WAITS, JAZ COLEMAN and PRINCE are certainly on my long list.
What’s the album you’ve listened to the most in your life? Do you still listen to it?
If I had to guess I’d say Songs From a Room by LEONARD COHEN. There was a long stretch in the earlier oughts when I listened to that album every single day, multiple times in a row. I still put it on regularly.
Hardest riffs of all time?
Jump In the Fire by METALLICA is the greatest riff. That song comes on and I want to run through walks. I love it with all my heart. That’s it. That’s the only one.
What are some of your favorite song lyrics? Lyrics that have been important to you or that had an impact on you?
I love NEKO CASE. Her voice is stunningly beautiful and haunting; however, her lyrical capabilities are even more astonishing. “I have waited with a glacier’s patience” has to be one of the greatest lines ever written. And they are seemingly endless: “Spectres move light pilot flames” “Oh my sparrow it’s too late – your body limp beneath my feet – your dusty eyes cold as clay – you didn’t hear my warning”. There are many lyricists I appreciate, and even admire, from LEONARD COHEN to NICK CAVE to JACQUES BREL, but I absolutely adore the honesty, relatability, cleverness and the wordplay that infests Case’s work.
Do you have an absolute all time favorite band or musical artist? What makes them so special to you?
Not really. I tend to obsess over various bands for periods of time then move on. I might listen to SPARKS for several days then move over to KILLING JOKE. There are go-to’s for me, but I couldn’t pick one particular band above all others.
What are your ten favourite albums of all time? Name a standout track on each of these albums.
This is now and will forever be a revolving list of records appearing, dropping out, then reappearing. My current, hastily assembled list goes:
THE JESUS LIZARD – Head – One Evening
LAURIE ANDERSON – Big Science – Big Science
ROLLING STONES – Tattoo You – Heaven
CHEAP TRICK – In Color – Come On, Come On
D’ANGELO – Black Messiah – The Charade
USURP SYNAPSE/JEROME’S DREAM – An Aspirin, An X-Ray split 7” – Remember the Sea of Tranquility
SWANS – The Great Annihilator – Mind, Body, Light, Sound
SPARKS – Kimono My House – Here In Heaven
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS – Your Funeral My Trial – Jack’s Shadow
MARIANNE FAITHFULL – Broken English – Guilt
Do you remember the first time you really appreciated an album or a song?
Not exactly. I do recall the first time I heard a song and attempted to make it my own. In 1984 HAROLD FALTERMEYER had a hit with the theme song to Beverly Hills Cop. The instrumental song Axel F was all over the radio and it was inescapable. I had several verses and a chorus that I would sing aloud whenever the song came on. Not exactly a quality song, but it was perhaps the match that lit the fuse.
What were you listening to in elementary school? then in high school? How have your musical tastes evolved since?
Elementary and high school was a lot of Hardcore and Death Metal. I was really into drugs and alcohol and less into opening myself to art. My musical appreciation was a bit narrow. Quite the regression from how I was as a kid and how I am as an adult. DEICIDE’s Legion was a big record for me back then. I think I had the same cassette recording of Leprosy by DEATH that I had when I was eight or nine all the way through high school; it’s still around here, somewhere. I still listen to some Metal and Death. Not as much because I’m finding a lot of those ideas have been beaten down and the genre is more about playing as fast as possible, which I find uninteresting and, quite frankly, lazy. It’s always impressive when someone can play a blastbeat for seven minutes straight, it doesn’t mean they should.
What beloved music do you share with your parents (or children if you have kids)? Any specifics memories?
My folks weren’t big music fans. I’ve tried to be better about that with my kids. I’m steering free from a personal agenda, but I’ve been happy to see my oldest showing an affinity for NEGATIVE APPROACH and AC/DC.
Most memorable show you’ve ever seen? What makes it stand out?
The most important live show I ever saw was OOKLA THE MOK at The 121 in Brockton, MA. This was maybe 1998 and I’ve no memory of who played aside from them. Their performance was so intense and explosive, it changed the way I performed and created music. Jon (drummer of Daughters) and I realized we needed to step it up. Ookla literally changed our musical lives.
What is the most impressive band you’ve toured with?
Hard to choose. Our tour with COALESCE was a great experience. We had been fans of them since teenage-dom and now we were friends/peers/comrades, whatever. They performed hard every single night and it was inspiring, to say the least. A truly powerful live band.
Is there any classic / universally acclaimed artist or that you missed out on when they first came out and discovered way later? Any artist that you didn’t like at first and learned to appreciate over time?
In ‘05 a girlfriend at the time hipped me to the early BEE GEES catalogue. I always viewed them as a disco band, granted the last successful and popular disco band, and paid them almost no attention aside from the occasional viewing of Saturday Night Fever. When I played their ‘67 debut ‘1st’ I was in a mild state of shock. I really couldn’t believe how stark the contrast between these incarnations of the band were. They came out with such a wonderful, dreamy pop sound that was on par with anything THE BEACH BOYS and THE BEATLES were doing, in their respective experimental phases. If you’ve never heard 1st, Horizontal or Idea, I highly recommend them.
Do you have an artist that you love in a genre that you don’t usually listen to? What makes them stand out?
Not really. I’m open to just about anything. There’s so much music, so many artists and records coming out constantly that there is something for everyone in each genre. Whatever the fuck a genre is.
Is there any band that you’ve always wanted to see live but never had the chance to catch them?
Late sixties early seventies STOOGES would have to be it for me. I’ve seen endless footage of that band and I can’t get enough. Hell, I’d even take one of the many too-fucked-to-perform IGGY nights. A wild, unpredictable and dangerous band.
Do you have any controversial/unpopular music related opinions that you would like to defend?
The MICHAEL GRAVES era of THE MISFITS is just as good as the DANZIG era. People like to complain about those Graves albums, but elitists and purists get in their own way 100 percent of the time. Graves breathed new life into that band with some highly memorable and catchy punk songs glistening with great pop sensibility. All without leaning so hard on the Misfits aesthetic that it comes across forced.
What band or artist do you believe has achieved the most flawless sequence of 3 records in a row?
•I’ll say PORTISHEAD, mainly because they released only three studio albums, up until this point. I could write a laundry list of bands that were able to achieve three great albums in a row, but to put out ONLY three incredible records without slipping then step out? Has to be Portishead.
What albums have been on heavy rotation lately?
VIAGRA BOYS – Street Worms
ANWAR SADAT – Ersatz Living
SWAIN – The Long Dark Blue
WHITE ZOMBIE – Soul-Crusher
BAMBARA – Audiotree Session
WIPERS – Is This Real?
What are some up and coming artists that you would recommend?
BAMBARA made my favorite record of 2018 with Shadow On Everything so I have been recommending them to just about anyone who will listen, and some who won’t.
Is there a band that you’ve discovered live recently that blew you away?
LINGUA IGNOTA opened several shows on the west coast for us a couple months ago and it was my first experience with Kristen in a live setting. She was absolutely mesmerizing. Such a powerful performance. There’s so much stretch and vulnerability bursting out of her during her performances. I was in awe.
What are you listening to right now, while answering these questions?
COLD CAVE – Full Cold Moon
No Comments