Review Summary: Daughters spelled wrong?
When Daughters experimented with a complete stylistic change back in 2006, it could've been an totally unmitigated failure. The change from the throat-lacerating, panic-laced spazzgrind of
Canada Songs to the twisted, winding block of terrifying atmosphere that was
Hell Songs was a sharp one to say the least, but it worked; it gained structure (albeit with the unbenign intention of ripping it apart), curiously memorable guitar lines and Alexis Marshall's desperate vocals described by Loudwire as 'Jerry Lee Lewis on hallucinogenic drugs'. From this, there were inevitably going to be bands inspired by this interesting take on grindcore, and one of these bands is Toronto's Pretty Mouth.
There's certainly no mistaking the similarities between Pretty Mouth and Daughters. In the opening track for example, the low-range, slightly traumatised vocals dance horribly with the guitars, squealing with feedback and effects, while the drums only give the bare minimum of structure, just enough to keep the track moving. Even on their Facebook, they list their genre as 'Daughters worship', such is the degree to which they acknowledge their biggest influence. And yet, in doing so, they're actually doing themselves a massive disservice.
Despite the patina of mimicry which covers
Fears, there is actually a lot that sets Pretty Mouth apart from their heroes, and this is no bad thing. Combining the twisted rockabilly vocals with hardly suppressed roars gives many of their tracks the feeling of a volatile, internal battle - and in many tracks, the clean vocals are barely used at all. Sometimes, the effect is downright unsettling; the repeated phrase 'it's killing me, it's killing you' in closer 'The Joke' raises in intensity to such an extent that it makes for decidedly difficult listening. Additionally,
Fears is also ridiculously heavy in parts. Where Daughters has a slightly harsh tone in parts (particularly in 'Hell Songs', not so much on the self-titled), the warped feedback-meddling and panic chords of
Fears are almost always underpinned by a powerful bass presence. As is typical of grind bands that have such short tracks (from tracks 2 up to and including 10, none exceed two minutes and four are under one) there is a certain degree of homogeneity, but memorability is not the order of the day on these tracks; while some sections may stick, the chaotic energy is of greater importance here, and this is played off superbly.
Obviously the comparisons will be drawn, but Pretty Mouth are certainly worth listening to off of their own efforts. By fusing their primary influence with their own creative direction,
Fears carries a very real feeling of savagery and, rather than a simple knockoff version as would be so easy to do, it doesn't actually feel like it was made by Daughters; it feels like it was made by Pretty Mouth, and what a glorious sound they have.
