SONGS OF THE YEAR: “Rose Red” by Sons and Daughters

POSTED: Monday, December 19, 2011, 10:00 AM

Filed Under: Music Show

Our Top 21 Albums issue comes out Dec. 22, but that doesn’t come close to telling you what 2011 sounded like. To help find the devil in the details, we’ve asked City Paper’s critics, friends and family to name some of their favorite songs — be they secret gems on terrible albums, sleeper tracks you missed, huge pop songs that need defending, or just plain good songs everybody already knows and loves. (Ignore the video, this is about the audio.)

Mirror Mirror (Domino), the fourth release from Scottish quartet Sons and Daughters, wasn’t an entirely successful stab at Joy Division/Siouxsie-style goth. But there were a few brilliant moments, none more so than the second single “Rose Red.” On this track, the band perfectly combined their new, retro sound with the punkabilly noir of their earlier work. As with many of Sons and Daughters’ songs, the scenario described here is sinister and bleak. (And the video proves that singer Adele Bethel makes a pretty good femme fatale.) “So let’s beat, beat, beat/ And tell them they want some more,” Bethel shrieks disturbingly on the chorus. But her hard brogue locks in with the band’s relentless charge, creating a melody that’s just as infectious as the rhythm.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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