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diversions
Southern Discomfort
soothes Long Beach
By Joe Licavoli
On-line Forty-Niner
Long Beach's own
Southern Discomfort shows the band's diverse personality through
its latest release, "Moe Foties," on Dirty Queen
Records.
The album is in memory of Todd "Moe Foties" Heft,
bass player and vocalist David Heft's younger brother, who
was killed in 1995 in an automobile accident.
Extreme music diversity can either hurt or hinder a band.
In the case of Southern Discomfort, the mixture of music styles
definitely helps the group. Southern Discomfort displays their
influences, which range from rock, hip-hop, surf-rock, punk,
jazz and country through the 20 songs on the album. The band
transitions from these different music styles throughout the
album.
Southern Discomfort also has a country influence on some of
their songs. The band stays away from the cheesy Garth Brooks
country for a more traditional Hank Williams approach.
Some reggae-rock tracks such as "Inside the Gates of
Heaven" and "Stoned Love " pay tribute to another
Long Beach band, Sublime. An emphasis of hip-hop is thrown
in with the funky and beat rocking, "Back In The Day."
A hat is also tipped to surf-rock legend, Dick Dale, on the
instrumental "Surf The LBC."
One of the biggest disappointments on the album was a song
called, "What the Fu**?" which repeats the song's
title throughout the song. The band does show strong songwriting
skills through other songs on the album, like the aforementioned,
"Inside the Gates of Heaven."
This minor disappointment did not last long as they continued
to show their unique blends of music styles. One of the highlights
of the band's sound is the strong emphasis on jazz and blues.
These two aspects are often absent from many sounds today.
Southern Discomfort does what many other bands cannot do.
They can shift from a punk rock anthem to an acoustic ballad
in a split second while maintaining their powerful energy
and unique style.
Overall, Southern Discomfort's newest effort is an eclectic
blend of music styles and is definitely worth checking out.
For information on the band check out www.dirtyqueenrecords.com
Grade B.
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Aleks
Garibay
Southern Discomfort is currently planning a
West Coast tour for summer 2002.
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