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, All Music Guide