Can't Stop The Daggers - Golden Rules

Hear The Track Here

Nope, no stopping them daggaz, and who would want to? When I was first introduced to Can't Stop The Daggers with High (January 2008) I knew that this was a band worth tracking. So it proved to be as the roll call of excellent CSTD tracks mounted throughout the year, giving them a splendid score of no less than four Tracks Of The Year (all of course in my suitably grubby opinion). Ask around, though, and even someone dumber than a sack of peanuts would discover a certain buzz about this band. Now a four piece band and hard at work on their forthcoming debut album, Chris Chattom, Jon Partelow, Emily Schalick and Lionel Luchessi have proved that great songs, great music and the right approach can move mountains.

There are none more mountainous than a Soundclick audience let me tell you....

If I had to quibble about anything, not something I normally do with this band, I would say that maybe the vocal needs to be redone because - to me anyway - the phrasing sounds odd. Either that or young Jon (Partelow) is singing with his lunch in his mouth again, the words are nigh on impossible to pick out unless your read the lyrics first. Small change though, and easily remedied, or I could just plain be talking bollocks again. As always, not much wrong with the presentation or production, one of the hallmarks of this excellent Phoenix AZ based band.

Now to me the term Alternative covers a multitude of sins. If it is taken to mean an alternative to what commercial music thinks of as alternative, then I'm all for it. Only two bands that I know truly present a real alternative music; Can't Stop The Daggers and Azoora. Mind you, Azoora don't have Emily Shalick as a secret weapon. It's her contribution with a standup bass that is - for me anyway - one of the mainstays of what makes this track work, but I love the sound so I am well biased. Golden Rules isn't as immediate as some of this bands previous outings but the quality of songwriting is there in spades. I don't often quote lyrics (Ed: that's not what we think at all) but 'you're the kind who wants the sun, when all you brought was candlelight' deserves a bit of a mention.

Excellent Alternative in the truest sense of the word. Highly Recommended.