Sometimes a band is more than just the sum of its parts. That is certainly the case with Sons of Silver. Made up of current and former members of Pearl Jam (drummer Dave Krusen), Candlebox (bassist Adam Kury), and Skillet (guitarist Kevin Haaland) as well as dynamic frontman Peter Argyropoulos and keyboardist and engineer extraordinaire Brina Kabler, the band has just released an EP titled Doomsday Noises.
In a conversation with Argyropoulos, he mentions how the members worked together in other projects before evolving into a band and writing songs together. Make no mistake, as you listen to Doomsday Noises you hear that Sons of Silver is very much a band with each person involved in the writing and working together to create the sound of the band. Argyropoulos mentions that each member has diverse musical tastes, from Radiohead to Fugazi to The Clash, but when they get together to play all of those influences melt into a rock n’ roll band.
Press the PLAY Icon below for my interview with Peter Argyropolous:
The passion Aryropolous has for history and politics finds its way into the lyrics. Tracks like “Deep Division” and “Outbreak”, both written long before the nation fell into quarantine, can almost be heard as the Nation Anthems of 2020. When describing how his lyrics form, Aryropolous says that the aggression of the music feeds the bent of the lyric and that key lyrics usually come to him as the band is playing. When talking about the band’s incendiary single “Read ‘Em Their Rights”, the singer points out in its early performances the song had no chorus. While playing the song one night he inserted the title and guitarist Haaland commented later how good it fits.
“Read ‘Em Their Rights”
While the pedigree of the band is strong, Doomsday Noises doesn’t rest on the collective laurels of its members. Sons of Silver picks up the crown of the politically charged Los Angeles bands that came before them and shines it for the 21st Century. The streets that gave birth to bands like X and Rage Against The Machine are now being walked on by Sons of Silver. There’s an anger with the system underlying each song which pushes the tracks to expose problems and shine a light so we all can work to our own possible solutions.
“Rude Awakenings”
While Aryropolous did have some hesitation about releasing a record at a time when the band is unable to tour behind it, he says those fears were calmed a bit by the band’s label who assured them that with some of the bigger name acts holding their records back, Sons of Silver can fill that void. He says the hope is that while people are home they will be hungry for new music and willing to give Doomsday Noises a try. The break from touring will also give the band time to build its catalog, another EP was recorded at the same time as Doomsday and the band will be heading back into the studio to begin recording new material shortly.
“World On Fire”
Sons of Silver is the right band at the right time and deserves a listen.
