Madison WI-based noise/math rock band The United Sons of Toil play Detroit
October 22, 2009
The Factory (Rochester)

Despite the designation as theoreticians, The United Sons of Toil have pushed the struggle of workers and indigenous peoples into the face of the indie-rock cool kids. Drawing lyrical inspiration from Gang of Four, The Sons rail against imperialism and colonialism while playing countless benefits for community organizations in their home base of Madison WI.

Questioning man’s inhumanity to man even seeps its way into The Sons’ merchandising: a t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase, “The first step in any war is to convince those doing the fighting that their enemies are demons,” and a timeline of genocides throughout history was recently reviewed by The Onion’s AV Club.

Almost without exception, reviews of The United Sons of Toil’s second record, “Until Lions Have Their Historians, Tales Of The Hunt Shall Always Glorify The Hunter,” focus on the manifesto-like liner notes in addition to the
music.

But what of the music? Strong ideas require strong execution and The Sons back their leftist rhetoric by fusing the post-hardcore of Dischord, the grinding mathrock of Touch & Go, and the noise of Amphetamine Reptile.