Terrible Sons is Lauren and Matt Barus, who live with their two children in a small community in Ōtautahi. Their local neighbourhood provides stories while they explore the inner tensions of exhaustion, heartbreak and loneliness. Lauren released music as LA Mitchell and is a part of the Fly My Pretties collective while Matt’s defunct band Dukes had a top ten hit with Vampires and toured with and wrote songs for Blondie.
Terrible Sons emerged after the couple had children and needed to slow down. Taking cues from folk tradition, they blend their two voices, backed with spare piano and acoustic guitar. Early single Tears Dont’ Fall gained millions of listens on Spotify and they were signed to Vancouver’s Nettwerk Records. Terrible Sons, alongside producers Ben Edwards and Tom Healey, and their band of Jo McCullum and Jo Barus, have released four EP’s and are close to completing their debut LP.
“Truly ethereal. Everything is melded together so well that it’s dreamlike, the listener is suspended in time. hhhhappy.com

“...done well, as in Terrible Sons’ newest EP, we come away not just entertained but with a deeper understanding of our own worlds.”
Atwood Magazine

"Mass is a stark, quiet collection of deeply romantic songs that hark back to the sweeping indie glory of Kings of Convenience and Feist. It’s the kind of music that feels destined to soundtrack the idiosyncratic indie cinema of the mid-2000s. It’s luscious, organic and so, so intimate.” - Tone Deaf

“Terrible Sons makes music that’s quite tender, almost fragile. It's steeped in folk traditions and sometimes, like on their song ‘What a Friend’, it's quite breathtaking." - Tony Stamp, RNZ The Sampler