Southerly – Champion of the Noisy Negativists
(2011, Greyday Records)
Another Southerly review? What is this, Southerly central? I swear, there’s a good reason for this. Let me explain.
Those of you who headed out to the Sunset expecting a set of intricately arranged pop music with vocals and hooks after reading Louis’s review of Southerly‘s Best Dressed and Expressionless last week might have been somewhat confused by what you witnessed. Krist Krueger, not being one to worry too much about audience expectations, has, at least for now, revamped Southerly considerably.
As far as I can recreate it, here’s what happened: Some time in late 2009 or early 2010, Krueger decided to strip away the vocals, the choruses, and the hooks, and he created this EP, Champion of the Noisy Negativists, which he self-released under the name Southerly, despite its divergence from the prior Southerly sound (it has just been re-released by Greyday) https://www.abclocksmiths.org/master-key-system. Shortly thereafter, he decided to start a new project working in this instrumental, cinematic vein, appropriately named SNDTRKR. Regardless of this new outlet for droney, atmospheric music, Southerly’s current tour, in support of Champion, has them playing very much in the SNDTRKR vein: two men with tons of gear, creating dense, layered soundscapes behind a sheet with eerie images projected on it.
You with me so far? Anyway, on to the record at hand.
Champion of the Noisy Negativists is, as mentioned, quite a departure from the previous Southerly catalog. There are no lyrics and very few vocals. There are no choruses. It’s all texture and dynamics and swooning, buzzing noise, propelled by piano and other keyed instruments, and drums both live and electronic. It’s not a complete departure, though. There is a certain expansiveness of sound that carries through from previous Southerly efforts. The lush pop songs are gone, but there is still a lush magnificence to the pieces here.
One thing I particularly appreciate about this record is the complete (or almost complete) lack of guitars. I am an avid listener of instrumental rock, or post rock, or whatever you want to call it, but even for a devotee such as me, the squall of electric guitars and bass can get a bit tiresome. There are few such bands that build their sound around keys, and Southerly does it very well – using everything from piano to electric piano to analog synthesizers to who the heck knows what. The first track, “Trials,” starts off with a dirgey piano line, reminiscent of the bleak brilliance of Black Heart Procession. Over the course of the next five minutes, Krueger gradually piles more and more sound and noise on top of the piano, until you can barely hear the original riff. It’s still there, and the resulting sound is still quite musical, but it’s a thick, foggy kind of music.
If you enjoyed that (and I certainly did), you really should pick up this record. It’s a great addition to the instrumental/post-rock/atmospheric/drone/whatever-the-hell-you-wanna-call-it canon, and it makes a fine companion piece with SNDTRKR’s Inglorious Debut. I’m really looking forward to the next release along these lines, whichever name it should come under.
Champion! This is great, will have to pick up this record!