THE DAMN SONS

Last Friday started innocently enough, at a party in West L.A. A few drinks with friends, and someone informing us that eating Taco Bell will give you cockroach babies in your belly. I guess Modest Mouse's Doing the Cockroach was all about eating Taco Bell, but enough about that. The real fun started at midnight...

We made our way to the Unknown Theater to catch an amazing band, the Damn Sons. The Unknown Theater has an underground New York vibe. And even though I've never been to New York, I knew it smelled like what Lou Reed's leather jacket should smell like, the sweat, the booze, the pawn shop where you got your first guitar. The music being made here wasn't to make you feel like you were relaxing in the sunshine. It was the kind of music that has spent some time in the gutter, beaten and bloody, but it continues to pick fights at the off chance that it can connect a few good blows.

The Damn Sons are not only Damn Good People, but also a Damn Good Band. A trio of guitar, bass and drums which sounds way bigger than the sum of it's parts. Travis on lead guitar with his arsenal of effects starts off with a little help from the Damn Choir, "WE'RE SINGING, YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!", but we were listening. The drummer, Jens Kuros hits his set as if it would fight back if he didn't beat it into submission, and the bassist, Grant holds it all together like Gorilla Glue. It was a powerful and fast set, with a few new songs as surprises toward the end of the night.

We had the honor to share a stage with the Damn Sons at the Echoplex and look forward to playing and watching many more shows with them. Through a little bit of Internet stalking, I found another of the drummer's other projects, Mouse Kills Tiger. Experimenting with Electronica and Indie influences, they create a great some great tracks.

Be sure to check out the Damn Sons live. They will make you move.

Also, get a free EP download of Mouse Kills Tiger.

DAN B