Southkill consists of two guys --- guitarist Jason Kerr and drummer John Dudley --- who try their hardest to recreate Scottish art-rockers Mogwai’s more aggressive moments on their own. It’s difficult for a duo to make the same noise as a quintet, but Southkill comes close thanks to what sounds like an array of distortion and delay pedals. Unfortunately, Southkill’s biggest obstacle isn’t its lack of personnel. The duo is way too content to milk a four-note riff for as long as possible, and because of such their debut EP starts getting dull even before opening track “In the Balance” ends. The lack of variation is so total that you won’t know when one song ends and the next begins unless you’re staring directly at your CD player’s LCD display. Here’s a hint, though: when the band switches from the key of E minor to the key of D minor, that means you’re on track three. Yes, these five songs are loud. Yes, these five songs are massive. Some of you might even say that they “rock.” However, they’re so devoid of actual tunes that if given a choice between this EP and even the weakest Mogwai album (which, by the way, is Rock Action), you will NEVER choose the former. At least you can hum the occasional Mogwai song. This is the shortest review I’ve ever submitted to Mundane Sounds, which should really tell you something.
--Sean Padilla
Artist Website: http://www.southkill.com/
Label Website: http://www.nfilabel.com/
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