"Best of the Bay: Best Modern-Sounding Record - Sons of Hippies"

By Creative Loafing, Tampa

Up from the ashes of Sarasota’s Nous Rapport came Sons of Hippies, who have carved out a gaping niche in Tampa Bay by playing hot alt-rockin’ sets at Crowbar, New World Brewery, Skipper’s Smokehouse and even St. Pete’s Emerald Bar and Star Booty. They also put out this year’s most original release, Warriors of the Light, which culls from influences ranging from MGMT to Siouxsie and the Banshees to PJ Harvey and Radiohead.

Album Review: Warriors of the Light
By Colin Kincaid, Music Critic, REAX Magazine

I've always been a big fan of evocative, poetic singer/guitarist Katherine Kelly, and I've always cringed when anybody mentioned the name of her band-ish collaboration with Multi-instrumentalist Jonas Canales - for me, it conjures the sort of stereotypical drum circle cliches that would hamper the duo's chances for exposure to the hip, smart crowd they deserve... Kelly and Canales run Patti Smith and Kate Bush-isms through the prism of post-modern styles to arrive at something equal parts shoegaze, broken New Wave, experimental pop and catchy modern rock. This is what art-rock should be like, bold and chance-taking without sacrificing catchiness or emotional heft. Songs like "Spaceship Ride" and "Whatever We Spend" are raw and boisterous, but also immaculately layered exercises in sound manipulation. No drum circles here - Warriors of the Light is a thoroughly contemporary, and thoroughly satisfying, slice of original electric music.

"Meet...Sons of Hippies"
By Julie Garisto, Music Critic, Tampa Bay Times

Hippie Offspring: Katherine Kelly, lead vocals, guitars, and keyboards; and Jonas Canales, percussion, synthesizers, and vocals. The Sarasota band's sound is a nice combination of '70s authenticity, '80s weirdness and modern-day eclecticism. Earthy beats bring you down to earth, while soaring guitars and synths take you elsewhere. Kelly mesmerizes crowds with that certain smoky, slightly spooky sexiness of Patti Smith and other female singers who can pull off strength and mystery without excess.

Bonding moments: "Attending Bonnaroo '08 together, dressing up in each other's clothes and drinking each other under the table," Kelly said. 
What's (not) in a name: "Jonas' first language is Portuguese," Kelly said. "His second is Spanish. In both of these languages, there is not a direct word for 'children'; one simply uses the plural form of the word 'son,' keeping the masculine-gendered noun. From the very beginning, Jonas would call us 'sons of hippies' instead of 'children of hippies' because of this language issue. I always found it endearing. The name hasn't brought incorrect assumptions about the sound yet, primarily because most people comprehend that the name is suggestive of a state of mind rather than a musical style."

Good and bad: Kelly loves moody artists like Siouxsie and the Banshees and Kate Bush. "I've also gotten comparisons to Grace Slick and Kristen Hersh" of Throwing Muses. Who doesn't she like? "I am annoyed by any singer, male or female, without integrity, vision, and heart."
Hear them: Sunday at 5pm and the Skipper's Smokehouse 28th anniversary celebration.

"BEST NOUS VENTURE - Sons of Hippies
By Amanda Schurr, Music Critic, Creative Loafing: Best of the Suncoast Edition, Sarasota

Earlier this year, former Nous Rapport frontwoman Kelly joined forces with percussionist Jonas Canales for a break from the crunchy, alt-garage aesthetic. The results are psychedelic bluster-in-progress, a mash-up of atmospheric guitar and synth: Check out the shoegazey, new-wave pop dream of "Suntan." Kelly's wry lyrical prowess and half-spoken, half-sung vocals remain front and center, but the Sons mark an organic throwback of an altogether different rock breed.

"Concert Review: Blind Man's Colour with Sons of Hippies & Millionyoung"
By Matthew Spencer, Music Critic, Creative Loafing, Tampa

... ... Bookending the show was Sarasota band Sons of Hippies with a set full of percussive, psychedelic rock from their 2009 album, Warriors of the Light. Frontwoman Katherine Kelly tripled her duties with vocals, guitar and keys, occasionally hunched over and wielding her instrument in a sort of possessed square dance. It was precisely that kind of reckless abandon that egged the crowd on for 45 minutes. Drummer/vocalist Jonas Canales and bassist Mike Møk fed off Kelly’s confidence and provided just enough gusto to support her abstract words.

The energy reached a fever pitch when the trio debuted two new songs from their next album, due out in August, kicking up the rhythm and incorporating Møk on background vocals, and generally amping up the intensity to great dynamic effect. Sons of Hippies provided a rousing end to an evening of diverse music that, overall, would make any local music fan proud.

"Concert Review: Dear Old Liar, Sons of Hippies dive into the Hub"
By Jay Cridlin, Music Editor, Tampa Bay Times

... ... And speaking of trippy, up next were Sons of Hippies, Sarasota's answer to this decade's tradition of male-female alt-rock duos (the White Stripes, the Ting Tings, She & Him, Matt & Kim, Mates of State). Having released their debut album, Warriors of the Light, in July, Katherine Kelly and Jonas Canales recently added a bassist, Michael Møk, to help flesh out their live sound.

Live, they're like an amalgam of everyone from Radiohead to Metric to Ours to Broken Social Scene to Veruca Salt to Guided By Voices to the Psychedelic Furs to, yes, just a little of the White Stripes. It's spacey but it rocks, .

At one point, Kelly asked the audience to scream as loud as they could during a certain part in the song. The band was recording the song for a single they plan to release, and Kelly later told me she plans to mix the live version with a studio version to create one song, not unlike how the Beatles used two very different recordings to create Strawberry Fields Forever. I screamed loudly, so maybe I'll be on the single. That would be fun.

They printed 100 copies of Warriors of the Light, and I bought one. No. 96. It was well worth my $8.

Then came Dear Old Liar, a mostly female St. Pete foursome I'd most compare to PJ Harvey, or the Cowboy Junkies, or Portishead, or Fiona Apple, with slow-burning '60s-'70s guitars instead of piano. They played a cover of Metric's Glass Ceiling, which Kelly loved, calling it "ambitious."

Vocalist Micheal Hooker was marvelously breathy, and guitarist Leanne Dunn just hredded. Smoky, bluesy, noirish, Twin Peaks-y -- they were a perfect choice for the Hub. They even played a song called The Hub.