South

Going Down to South's Park

It’s always refreshing to see a band who are confident enough to open with an instrumental. It’s such a brave move for South, but brave moves have to be played in this game. The early afternoon sum beats down and we’re suddenly in South’s Park.

Oodles of jangly, meandering guitar encased in a progressive indie wrapping, served with Doves sauce and grated Radiohead, South are the thinking man’s musical breakfast. Switching from acoustic pop to powerful, Coldplay-esque drama with an angular, expressive level of anguish and hope, they’re a beautiful, drifting, floataway, flowaway groove. Devastatingly powerful and rich with subversive and mature sub-harmonies, they’re pompous and bombastic without being overblown and masturbatorial.

New single ‘Loosen Your Hold’ has a beautifully simple guitar hook with tapestries of orchestral sincerity woven subtly into their already elaborate brand of Emo pop. They receive a positive reaction purely on the sudden and unexpected sheer class of their music, rather than the presence which they can’t quite sum up sufficiently.

Technical difficulties aside (someone really should tell the roadie with the Mohawk that a haircut like that is just not on), each time South reveal an extra facet to themselves. Hopefully it’s a taster of what could still come. To prove a point, they end with an unexpectedly intrusive trip into dancey space-rock electronica like some gliding, wriggling mutant dropping litter and sh*t into everyone’s nice mellow space.

A royally cacophonous and quite unexpected treasure.

Paul Mills

News Stories

• Mendip District Council say Glastonbury 2003 Was Very Successful
• Jools Holland Extravaganza
• TV Ratings Up, Up, Up
• Michael's Sunday Press Conference
• Glastonbury Extravaganza A Sell Out
• Thank you everyone
• Crime Substantially Down
• A New Beginning For Glastonbury Festival

General Links

• Official Site News
• News & Features from The Guardian
• Extravaganza
• Search