With ‘Sweet Boy’, SONS is releasing an – in its own words - ‘coming of age’ record. A balancing act of a band that threw itself headfirst into the rock ‘n roll mayhem and now have to rhyme getting older and getting settled with their wild hope & dreams of the ragged rockstar life. Whether to conform? A house-with-garden-and-child, a good job and having to run faster and faster on the rat-race treadmill? Or to go against the flow and stubbornly follow your own path, with a heart that almost goes into overdrive with every new riff, every new musical foray? Existential questions determine the tone of the record. As in ‘Succeed’, the opener of ‘Sweet Boy’. What do you feel when you still have one foot lashed down in a boyish harness, and the other foot is already pressing the accelerator of your first company car? And what do you do when your mental resilience is outweighed by the lofty expectations of society, your family and your friends? In the case of SONS, it led to a serious identity crisis. A sweet boy with a panic attack. A good boy? I’m too young for that. Or perhaps not? The title track ‘Sweet Boy’ depicts that mental sparring with reality very nicely. Immediate, gnarly punk rock. With ‘Sweet Boy’, the band delivers an album that builds on the foundations of their debut and adds at least 4 more storeys. Solid garage punk, anchored in the American West Coast tradition, pedal to the metal while looking to the future. Echoes of contemporary post-punk, nineties guitars and a touch of psychedelia. But above all: conviction.
Limited green vinyl.
