Daggerhands
made with squarespace
PRESS
"You know when you’re so angry that you can only speak very carefully, very intensely, and with that peculiar hush that makes whoever you’re angry at pay extra close attention? That’s the sensation the new project from John Totten (formerly of the Quiet Ones) stirs up: Daggerhands definitely rock—with a guitar metabolism somewhere between major label-era Dinosaur Jr. and good Neil Young and Crazy Horse—but their great strength lies in that piercing sense that if you look away, they might just blow up. This show is to celebrate the release of the band’s debut full-length, Across America, which is an album worth celebrating, and not just because its title appear to be a Wings reference."
-SeaN NElson, The Stranger
"John Totten is good with names. To start with, the former Quiet Ones leader named his new band Daggerhands, an excellent moniker that effectively conveys the vibe found on the Seattle group’s debut full-length, being celebrated tonight. The moments that recall Sonic Youth and the more raucous Crazy Horse are dangerous like dagger hands might be—slashing noisy riffage that threatens to destroy all it touches. But there’s also an underlying pathos here that recalls, at times, Elliott Smith and a smidge of Delta blues, and speaks to the alienation and, ultimately, incredible sadness that must come with having daggers for hands."
-Mark Baumgarten, Seattle Weekly
"Formerly of the very good Seattle rock band the Quiet Ones, John Totten’s taking his sensitive-guy vocals and mellifluous guitar dramatics into the solo realm. Yes, the region’s overflowing with such types, but Totten’s one of the more skillful and emotionally rewarding practitioners of this breed...Totten’s occasional predilection for the cruising motorik groove—as displayed in some of his Daggerhands material—adds a welcome wrinkle to his melodically rich creations. Any month now, I expect to find out that Totten’s placed one of his easy-but-not-too-easy-on-the-ears rockers or ballads in a film or television show—and that he’ll be leaving behind these small-room gigs for good."