Cardinal Sons Give the Drummer Some

In a My Spilt Milk premiere, Cardinal Sons present a new video shot during their "The Echo Choir EP" sessions.

There’s nothing sexy about pop/rock songs, but there’s also nothing like a song that stops whatever you’re doing and changes your mood. On The Echo Choir EP, Cardinal Sons work with the same instruments, tropes, and musical building blocks as a million bands before them, but their songs still have surprises. They’re not reinventing anything, but the songs are reminders that attention to the details of sound, songs, and songwriting make all the difference. 

Producer Charlie Sexton presents the Shirley brothers—Joe, John and Dave—as heavy but not hard. The drums and guitars have weight and impact, but they’re not mauling the listener; instead, they’re giving the melodies some physical support. You can hear a few iterations of Britpop in Cardinal Sons’ sound with The Beatles and Blur equally evident, but with a very American urgency and sincerity. The songs may be constructions, but John sings each word as if it’s gospel truth and crucial. The results aren’t too earnest, though. More precisely, they’re just earnest enough so The Echo Choir EP sounds like it matters, but it maintains its sense of fun.

Cardinal Sons recorded the EP at Charlie Sexton’s Echo Mountain Recording Studios in Asheville, North Carolina. While there, they shot a video of a bonus song, “Drummer,” that doesn’t appear on the EP. We’re pleased to premiere it here.