Review Summary: A distinct cacophony.
Daughters is by no means a consistent band. The difference in sound between Canada Songs and the self-titled is striking. At first, they were a grind band. Then, they became noise rock with constipated cowboy vocals. So, this being the first record in eight years, it was only natural for the band to adopt a new sound. And, oh man, have they done it.
Now, some things haven’t changed. It is still abrasive. The opening track City Song gives off the feeling that you’ve walked into a place you really shouldn’t have. The creepiest thing is how Alexis comes out of nowhere and starts gasping, croaking, and moaning as the noise proceeds to get more intense and drums go off like gunshots (There is certainly some Death Grips influence here). And the frantic sound that one might be looking for can be found on tracks like The Lord’s Song and Ocean Song.
But there were some things that nobody could have expected with this album. There are some parts on You Won’t Get What You Want that are… well, beautiful. For instance, Satan in the Wait features a very pretty keyboard during the chorus. A similar melody is heard in Daughter. There likely aren’t many people that would have described a Daughter’s song as remotely pleasant before this album. And of course, that’s the appeal. And the track Less Sex has a sort of groove that perhaps, maybe, possibly could be on the radio. Again, another sentence nobody would expect would be used to describe Daughters. This album sends kind of a Mr. Bungle feeling off. Perhaps it is the versatility of the album, or maybe the eccentricity of Alexis’ vocals. Either way, there are some parallels that can be drawn.
You Won’t Get What You Want is undoubtedly one of the freshest releases of the last few years. Nobody, not even Daughters’ previous fans, could have anticipated that the album would sound quite like this. And to anybody who has a problem with it: don’t tell them how to do their job.
