South

We are rapidly approaching a time when every single band in existence will have had a song used in an episode of The OC. We’re not quite there yet but it is definitely not the moment of prestige that it might have once been. That said, it did help London trio South to find a North American audience, although there’s a real good chance that the wheat would have been separated from the chaff by itself eventually. Their third album, Adventures, shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone familiar with their earlier records. It isn’t quite as bleak as its predecessor, With the Tides, making it more of a conventional rock album, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The focus, however, is still on atmospherics with layer upon layer of guitars backing the majority of the songs. While they may have cut their teeth remixing other people’s work, these days they’ve moved further and further away from that origin and sound somewhere between New Order, Doves and the Stone Roses. It isn’t quite as compelling as it should be, but with every subsequent record South get closer to making their classic album. Maybe next time.