Daughters of the Sun: Reverberations

In mentioning the Chicago group Disappears today, it made me think a bit more about Daughters of the Sun, who I’d been hesitant to write up until now. Disappears, though, move around in the seedy underbelly of stuff that could become pop if any concerted effort were made. The hooks are there and the chiming guitar during “Hearing Things” would do nothing but ingratiate the band to rock enthusiasts the world over.

Regardless of that fact, what does Disappears have to do with Daughters of the Sun? Nothing too much actually. Whereas the Chicago band is indebted to the likes of Spacemen 3 and its cohort, Daughters of the Sun are much more of an obtuse act, the one unifying commonality being reverb – both bands rely upon it almost to a fault.

The lead off track from Rings, entitled “Himalaya,” might be able to get passed off as a track from Disappears. The song ends up being a bit too slight for inclusion in the Chicago bands repertoire, but that doesn’t render the effort any less enjoyable.

It lacks propulsion even as the thudding drums are a persistent reminder of time as the track works its way through to the end. The toppling effect of feedback makes the song more interesting than it would be otherwise – that’s not a negative critique, it’s just a mention of band members understanding how to use ambience (if that’s the right term for sheets of noise) to good effect. Opening Rings in such a strong manner, though, should make listeners wonder, can there be an entire disc of this?

The answer, unfortunately, is no, but it’s close at times.

At points Daughters of the Sun indulge a bit too much in whatever group members think experimentalism might be, “Way Out” being an exemplar of this. There’re various clanging sounds deep in the mix, which prominently features a drone behind some vocal moanings. Following that let down is another sub par offering in the shape of “Shine On” as the group eschews the harsh percussion for wavering keyboard notes and some more moaning. Yeah, Animal Collective might be a decent reference point, but everyone should be tired of reading that name. I am at least.

One final bummer called “Field Recordings (India ‘08)” clocks in at around 15 minutes. The effect of the track is only to make listeners want to visit India in lieu of hearing the song. Better in theory than practice, unfortunately.

Redeeming any perceived shortcomings is the seven minute “Meditations.” The same sort of back-round drone is utilized, but in the absence of those well intentioned and poorly delivered vocals, the track succeeds in its simplicity. A snatch of echoed percussion almost counts as a beat here, but not really. It does actually results in the track being aptly named.

Rings includes more disappointments than successes, but the moments when listeners can actually find something that they enjoy are going to be revisited over and over again. Unfortunately, these sometimes incredible moments only exacerbate the mediocrity found elsewhere on the disc.