parse arrangements, minimalist guitar lines, stripped down production?eah, you know the list. On paper, Glasgow 's Sons & Daughters could fit neatly along side just about every other post-punk garage rock revival outfit currently stirring up the media hype machine. But it would be a shame to hastily write this band off as simply another addition to the genre-of-the-moment. Unlike many of their contemporaries, Sons & Daughters have eschewed style and pretension for a little heart and substance.

Their first release, Love The Cup, is an album of electrified folk and blues that has more in common with Appalachia (a musical cousin to their native homeland) than anything that came out of a NYC garage. Relying on understated melodies, pounding rhythms, and pulsing guitar lines that stretch over the framework of a song, the band creates a dark and airy atmosphere. This foundation is well suited to the dual vocals of singers Adele Beth and David Gow. Dirge-like and almost dissonant at times, the two interweave their voices in a drone that conjures stress, conflict, and loss no matter what the lyrical content. The resulting effect of their subtle almost recitation-like vocals being applied to the band's sonic canvas is an uneasy tension that threatens, but never quite shatters.

Another aspect of Sons & Daughters that catches the ear is their tasteful use of the mandolin on a few tracks. While the rest of the instrumentation plods along in each song, it is the mandolin that dodges in and out relieving that ever-present tension and adding flight to otherwise heavy tunes.

At first take, Love The Cup is not long on variety. Extended periods of attentive listening can suffer from a lack of dynamic contrast from track to track as the songs tend to bleed into one other. However when played in the background, just out of focus, the album's consistency makes for an eerie and enveloping mood setter that slowly draws in the listener. Keep your ears to the ground and you just may get hooked. .