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October 26, 2005
The Southland neovox article/ profile/ show review
The South Rises
The Southland: Influence of Geography shows strength
CD Review by Aaron Fallon
If you're a fan of such great groups like The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie or even The Postal Service, you may want to check out the debut CD from the band The Southland, “Influence of Geography”. The title in itself is amusing, because once you listen to it; you easily can hear the influences of those other bands, and a few others as well.
The band was born out of the friendship/ roommate collaboration in 2002 from lead singer Jed Tucker Whedon and lead guitarist Nick Gusikoff. They initially made songs together as Christmas gifts for friends. It paid off, leading to the other members to join in and create a strong, original sound of their own, while blending in their own influences to create the melodic sounds and strong lyrics you hear on “influence of Geography”. You can hear some of their own influences, like Radiohead, Pink Floyd and Jane's addiction, in their music. However they manage to pull it off without completely ripping them off, they still have their own original sound. I wish most debuts could say the same.
One of the strongest songs on the record is “305”, about arguing with someone you love. “Silence only explains/ everything you're trying not to say/ I'll leave this city and escape/ even if it stops my heart someday.” Combining that chorus with great guitar riffs and percussion and you have the makings of an excellent song. There's also the song “Miles”, which sounds like a Death Cab or Postal Service song. Whedon's cherub-esque vocals over the tranquil techno beat with sad, almost haunting background vocals that are reminiscent of older Peter Gabriel songs. “Who knew you'd have things so heavy/ there's barely a bright side to see/ I say I'll come to rescue/ with perfect timing.” There are numerous examples of how well Whedon and Gusikoff's collaborative writing pays off on “Influence”, and with an article so short, it will not do The Southland nearly enough justice.
In a nutshell: Pick Up This CD! It's one of those albums you can listen to when you are thinking of sour times, sorting out pass failures and mistakes that we all make in our relationships, or just working on homework. You can also see them live in Ithaca on Wednesday November 16th. For details on that show check out www.thehaunt.com.
Note: I will be following this up with a show review and I am trying to contact the band's PR person to possibly interview them for a band profile as well.
Posted by AaronFallon at October 26, 2005 10:22 AM
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