South
South are keen musicians with a simple goal, and that is; to supply the world with more transfigured rock-pop anthems than you can shake a stick at. Are they brilliant?
No. Far from it.
Have they the potential to become brilliant?
Yes. Definitely.
One can trace sporadic elements of Elbow in their music, the odd stroke-esque melody and the occasional hint of an attempt to burst into mainstream, and to have a mainstream demand. Their music is a sort of ode to a generation of Indie that was lost in a rapidly modernised and avant-garde scene. South have likeability, an appeal, to an extent; however, one can’t quite pinpoint what it is that’s so likeable about them.
“You are here” is there enthusiastically anticipated new album and it’s rather excellent. The first single to be taken from it, “Wasted” is a washed-up assertion of how they are “…tired of being wasted”, it’s creates bona fide allusions of Badly Drawn Boy whilst making a flirtatious pass at Elbow, (a band who they co-headlined an American tour with). It’s this track that tells the story of the album it appears. It’s a JD soaked, washed up, raucously, guttural punch at a hit and the album is exactly the same. Tracks with rough edges…tracks that tell tales of grime and grit…and tracks that immediately connect with the listener…tracks like “Better Things”, “There Goes Your Life”, “Opened Up” and “The Pain”, for instance.
This album comes as a breath of fresh air at the mouth of the summer…and it shows the wonderful potential that South have.