EP Review: Daughters

If you haven’t had your ears around The Sour yet, consider this your formal eviction notice from under whatever rock you’ve been hiding beneath. This Tāmaki Makaurau four-piece featuring a powerhouse lineup of Lani Purkis, Jessie Booth, Jana Te Nahu Owen, and Tam Matchett have dropped a debut EP that doesn’t just ask for your attention, it demands it.

Fresh off being added to the latest NZ On Air New Tracks compilation, The Sour are currently dominating the bFM airwaves. And for good reason. This is a ‘big studio’ sound, spacious, raw, and uncompressed that makes most modern rock recordings sound like they were trapped in a shoebox.

Daughters opens with Drinking On A Sunday, a track built on a fat, four on the floor beat that serves as the perfect launchpad for a driving grunge riff. The vocals sit somewhere in that glorious 90’s pocket, think Courtney Love’s grit mixed with the melodic power-shout of Aimee Allen (The Interrupters). Between the harmonic guitar licks and a soaring solo, it’s a perfectly layered rock anthem that’s catchy as hell.

Hex shifts gears, opening with a backbeat and rimshots reminiscent of early Incubus. It highlights the band’s ability to play with dynamics, moving from soft, echoey guitars to a ‘kick in the guts’ distortion before spiraling into dissonant shouted vocals. The vocal harmonies here are flawless, complementing the track’s moody, melodic intricacies.

Your God and Mine is the rhythmic heart of the release. The drums sit right in the pocket, creating a driving groove that feels like a nod to Spiderbait but with a much more polished, melodic vocal delivery. It’s radio-friendly rock done right, no fluff, just expert songwriting.

The standout for me, however, is You. This is the track that sees the EP out in a blaze of glory. It showcases a brilliant use of space, stripping back to the essentials to let the vocals breathe before the drum fills and backing vocals ramp the intensity up ten notches for the finale.

While every member of The Sour is an absolute weapon in their own right, the bass lines are the undisputed glue of this EP. It’s that signature driving Lani style – thick, melodic, and purposeful. She isn’t just following the guitars, she’s providing a fat, rhythmic foundation that gives tracks like Hex and You their massive, undeniable weight.

The Verdict:

This is an extraordinary debut. Having seen them at a soundcheck, The Sour have managed to bottle their live show and refine it with the precision of seasoned pros. It’s a recipe that’s tried and proven, but they’ve executed it with an effortless coolness that most bands spend decades trying to find.

Expect to hear these tracks everywhere this year. The Sour have arrived, and they are officially the best thing on your playlist.