The Favourite Sons - That Driving Beat (2003)

From Hatfield, UK. Formerly known as The Hi Numbers

The Favourite Sons perfectly encapsulates the British Mod/ R&B Scene that enjoyed its zenith during 1965-66.

Despite the Anglicized spelling of their name, the Favourite Sons are a Brooklyn-based band. OK, singer Ken Griffin is actually Irish, and the rest of the band has its roots in the Philadelphia space rock scene of the late '90s, but their current incarnation is based in the most hipster-oriented of the New York City boroughs. Griffin got his start in the shoegazer era, when the Dublin-born singer and guitarist formed Rollerskate Skinny, an underrated band forever cursed as bandwagon jumpers thanks in large part to the fact that their lead guitarist was one Jimi Shields, younger brother of My Bloody Valentine leader and semi-retired sonic perfectionist Kevin Shields. The rest of the band -- guitarist and keyboardist Justin Tripp, guitarist Carmine Degennaro, bassist Matt Werth, and drummer A.J. Edmiston -- are former members of the Philadelphia psychedelic pop group Aspera (aka Aspera Ad Astra), which released several albums around the turn of the millennium at the height of the "Psychedelphia" buzz. After singer Drew Mills left Aspera following 2003's poorly received Oh Fantastica, the expatriate Griffin joined the newly relocated former members of Aspera in 2004 to form the Favourite Sons. Dropping Aspera's psychedelic flourishes in favor of a mix of shoegazery guitar drones and tightly wound dance rhythms in the manner of the Strokes, topped off with Griffin's son-of-Iggy Pop vocal style, the Favourite Sons released singles on the Gold Standard Laboratories and Loog labels in 2005, as well as a live EP, before their full-length studio debut, Down Beside Your Beauty, was released on Vice Records in the fall of 2006. ~ Stewart Mason