100 Bands in 100 Days Presented by Verity Credit Union — Day 38: Stubborn Son
Please check out Verity Credit Union, our great partner in the 100 Bands in 100 Days local music showcase.
Music fans of the Pacific Northwest, get ready for our fourth annual year-end daily local music showcase, 100 Bands in 100 Days, where every day until December 31st, we’re showcasing a new band or artist you have to know about, presented by Verity Credit Union. Make sure you are checking the #100Bands100Days hashtag at Twitter on the daily to stay on top of all the bands featured and make sure to follow Verity on Twitter and NW_Music_Scene as well. Some days the featured act could be an established and locally-adored northwest-based musician and other times they could be a band with a small following that just hasn’t had their deserved time in the sun yet. Either way, we’re fairly confident you can come away from this daily segment with plenty of new favorites. Today’s featured artist is Stubborn Son.
Back in 2016 we reviewed the debut album from promising band from the northwest called Stubborn Son. On the debut it was pretty clear that the guys had a firm grasp on the bluesier side of the rock aisle and it appeared they were on the right track with what they were doing.
Here’s some of what we said about the debut album in our 2016 review:
Lead single “The Broken Heart Proof” sits strong in the opening slot of the 10-track record. Lead vocalist and guitarist Garrett Lamp leans into the lyrics with all his might, “If a broken heart proves we’ve got everything to lose, I’ll be a lonely soul, a lonely soul,” while wailing away on his acoustic slide guitar. There’s an immediacy to the beat and bass line, carried by bassist/vocalist Andrew Knapp and drummer Blair Daly. The tracks are, for the most part, concise, edited into well-arranged, tidy punches.
From there, the album carries on with riff-driven intensity, yet there are balanced moments of quiet, slow-building groove. “Make Believe” dives in and out of its psych-rock flair, a slow beat and tinkling cymbals, waiting for the bass to hit and the chorus to catch. “Head Above Water” has an undeniably sultry groove, but keeps the band’s no-frills aesthetic intact. There are a ton of influences here, from The Black Keys to Robert Johnson, and given that the band worked with acclaimed producer Martin Feveyear (Kings of Leon, Mudhoney, Mark Lanegan) at Jupiter Studios, there’s plenty of northwest rock knowledge to be had.
Try “Voices” for a nearly six-minute ode to soul-searching, “It’s time to go hunting for the devil that lives inside my head. He lives right behind my eyes and whispers in my ears every night I lay down to bed.” The track starts off like a slow nightmare of bluesy balladry, building up into a lineup of instrumental solos like any good rock classic should.
This brings us to the new EP to be released on November 3, 2017. First things first, the band and their sound has a completely different feel on the new release. To say they reinvented themselves might be going a bit too far but they are definitely stretching their wings and trying some new things on for size. It’s not hard to imagine the band sitting around listening to stacks of 60s, 70s and 80s albums to help center themselves leading up to recording these five songs. On the song titled “North” they seem to borrow a little bit from the 80s brit-pop era but they found a way to implement some of those synth-driven ideas into that song and make it their own and keep it fresh. “Good As Dead” finds the duo almost flirting with prog-rock, with a driving, funky sounding bassline and progressive instrumentation, while the soulful vocals seal the deal and sell the track.
From the band’s bio: Stubborn Son is a cold war-era radio gem. Formed in 2014 over three-finger pours and stacks of vinyl records, this Seattle based project sits nicely between the visual stylings of the 1960s and the sonic infusions of the ’70s and ’80s. The Fortunes EP (Nov. 2017) is the follow up to the bands 2015 full length album Birthright and is the unmistakable proof that rock & roll is not dead, it just has a new name. While previously rooted closer to soulful blues-rock, Fortunes has Stubborn Son taking a drastic, yet perfectly fitting departure. Layered with more melodies and groovier hooks than previous works, Fortunes lays back with more intentional space and freedom in songwriting and still delivers all the rock goodness of 1971. Based around distinct vocals, keys, synth and dusty old gear, Stubborn Son has created a unique yet surprisingly familiar identity with Fortunes.
If you want to see how they sound live, the band will be playing a release show on November 3 at the High Dive in Seattle with Moon Dial and The Landmarks. Click HERE for show information.
The new EP is great and even though the band is right in calling it a drastic departure from the previous release, it totally works for us. It’s sort of like a left turn off a gravel road and onto the pavement.
(You can listen to “Good As Dead” below from a recent premier on Huffington Post and get more info about Stubborn Son on Facebook HERE.)
Submissions for 100 Bands in 100 Days are still open to any Pacific Northwest band interested in submitting. If you would like to submit for a chance to be featured in this segment, consult this link for more information on how you can do so.
A huge shoutout to Verity Credit Union for doing so much for the music community and for being such a great partner.
