Reviews
Souther Still: Live
The Independent Music Magazine live reviews 29/03/2007
There is a mood of relaxed intimacy at the Soho Revue Bar where Souther Still launch album Dizziness and Darkness.
Beginning with the melodic "Forever The Fighter", Bradley Putze's lyrics of longing lull hauntingly over gentle percussion, spacey synth and guitars.
While lyrical references to the Thames and song "Moorgate" thematically root the quartet firmly in English soil, their musical roots are based in Americana and the alt-country of Nashville.
The languorous guitars behind keyboard chords in "White Lies" are pure alt-country while "All Hands To The Pump" which builds up to heroic melodic choruses could be a track from Shack's album HMS Fable.
The beautiful keyboard chords-based "Light Of The World" is juxtaposed with the heavier percussion and rocky guitar strumming of their new single "Sump".
They end on "Love's Left This Town" which begins as a piano-led ballad, then bursts emotively into climactic crashing cymbals and lush swirling guitars - a gloriously uplifting ending.
Rating - ****
By Elisa Bray
Souther Still: Dizziness and Darkness
Uncut Review - May 2007
Impressive second from Anglo-Kiwi quartet
Recorded in Cornwall, London and Nashville, Dizziness and Darkness sounds as rootless as this parade of locations might suggest - but not in a bad way. Roping in all manner of influences, this could be Grant-Lee Phillips fronting Buffalo Tom on a VU tip. The songs of Bradley Putze and guitarist Kevin Stokes are dark and downbeat, but still kick hard, especially the fuzzed-up "Lodgings to Let". Elsewhere, mandolins creep into the mix, while Putze's frayed-at-the-seams voice adds real depth. Aching piano ballad "Love's Left This Town" sounds like an abandoned cousin from Neil Young's After The Gold Rush.
Rating - ***
by Rob Hughes
The Sun Review - 9th March 2007
They're based in London and comprise two Brits and two ex-pat New Zealanders. Their music is firmly rooted across the Atlantic in backwoods America but many of their themes are inspired by matters closer to home.
This mix sets them apart. Quite why they have to ply their trade on a tiny label and in small clubs is mystifying to all who hear their luminous, aching, alt-country songs.
And while there are echoes of greats such as Neil Young or Gram Parsons, there's also plenty of laidback, contemporary cool.
A song such as Thirty Year Bouquet, for instance, has a simple, lilting country arrangement. Others such as the hazy, expansive Up Downer Street, have equal measures of steady-building rock ballast and melodic beauty.
It's time fine singer Bradley Pulze and his talented band got the recognition they deserved.
Rating - 4.5/5
by Simon Cosyns
Mojo Magazine Review - March 2007
Texas or Nashville, sure. Chicago and New York? Sometimes. But an alt-country band from the Smoke who are not only totally legitamate but quite startling? There stands Souther Still, two ex-pat Kiwis and a pair of Englishmen comprising the alternative country debut of the year. Their cultural reference points stretch from New Zealand to Shoreditch, giving them a songwriting perspective midway between Jarvis Cocker and Neil Finn. Their ballads are breathtakingly beautiful, on Open Road when singer Bradley Putze sings, "She's built like Henry Copper, styled like Betty Page", the ache in his voice has a real depth. Their mating of techno and early Velvets on Forever the Fighter may be an even stronger chronicle of loss, with a soft underpinning of synth keyboards at the chorus.
Rating - ****
By Sid Griffin
Miles of Music review
The sound is eclectic while not disconnected. There is gentle '70s soul-pop, aching country laments, a pinch of punk, and the trash of meshing Crazy Horse guitars. Yet, Dizziness and Darkness is cohesive. There is no doubt, track-to-track, that this is the same band but they manage to incorporate a variety of textures that make them impossible to pigeonhole. Fans of Whiskeytown, Grand Drive, Minibar, and the aforementioned Crazy Horse will find this 2006 release to be a winner. Songwriters Bradley Putze and Kevin Stokes have a way of lulling you, only to smack you around with a wry passage. Gentle, spacey, rocking, and original.
Rating - It's a cracker!
By Jeff Weiss
Rootstime.be review - February 2007
In Spring 2001, three enthralled London blokes and one far-away New Zealand friend formed a new country-folk Americana band calling themselves “Souther Still”. Singer Bradley Putze and guitarist Kevin Stokes wrote a collection of songs, enough to go into the studio with their mates and record their first mini-album "The Open Plan" (2002). Last Winter they gathered again in a Cornish studio, coming out with a well-crafted second album, their first full-length CD "Dizziness and Darkness" which will be released in Europe in March 2007 after some Nashville-mastering.
It turned out a great CD, containing thirteen lo-fi bluesy alt-country songs displaying plenty of romance, sorrow, regret and loss of loved ones, sadness everywhere. Influences can be traced back to the soft 1970’s soul-pop music, and there’s a whiff of country, but more important are the strikingly strong vocals throughout this release. Bradley Putze manages to catch the listener’s attention with a voice reminiscent of Damien Rice, Ryan Adams or David Gray. It is hard to put Souther Still into one category. All four tracks opening the CD are laid-back and beautiful ballads, especially "Open Road", "Forever The Fighter" and "White Lies" command an immediate and well-deserved second listening. Next is "Lodgings To Let", a modern popsong laced with guitars, sharp vocals and some T-Rex riffs, even displaying a punk sound. Followed by "Thirty Year Bouquet", a song that could have been taken straight from a Whiskeytown-album with its unmistaken Nashville country style. The seventh track "Cuba Libre" seems to come out of a too loud discotheque with its heavy drumcomputer beat and monotonous vocals; T-Rex (again!) with a disco backing would describe it best. But then it all switches effortlessly to the pop classic in the making "Light Of The World", that after a couple of simple opening bars grows into a georgeous ballad. The same goes for "Moorgate", a simple tune carried by brilliant vocals. And it continues with "All These Streets", starting with acoustic guitar and other instruments joining in with great subtlety, then for Bradley Putze’s voice to finish the job. The twelfth track "Love's Left This Town" brings further enjoyment with its simple piano accompaniment and once more very strong vocals. The closing track “Kettle” is another solid song with an exquisite guitar riff and vocals reminiscent of a young Lloyd Cole.
Overall this CD is a rather good effort from these four guys that clearly aim very high for their next CD to surpass this one. For the time being we will put "Dizziness and Darkness" on the pile with candidates for CD of the year 2007. Listen for yourself by getting this CD, you will not regret it.
Insurgentcountry.net review - January 2007
Souther Still is a 4-piece Anglo-Kiwi combination from London, that makes music together for the last five years. They recorded "Dizziness And Darkness" (words from their song "Cuba Libre") in a cottage on the coast in Cornwall. Guitarist Kevin Stokes thought I might like the album, as they listen to the same music (Sid Griffin!) I've been enthusiastically writing about here. Boy, was he right! In fact, after one spin I was already floored... If 2007 has more music like this to offer, it will be the best year ever!
Bradley Putze, who -together with Kevin Stokes- wrote all the songs, has this kinda soothing folky vocal that easily keeps us spellbound for hours. The music is a well-balanced variety of alt.country and folk, with touches of melodic pop, lo-fi blues and boogie. Sometimes acoustic, sometimes with rocking electric (slide-) guitars and layered keyboards. Often the song is built up exactly the way I like it best: quiet (acoustic) intro and enter everything else along the way... These four musicians are experienced players, no doubt about that!
And those lyrics... Let's talk about the lyrics now! First time I hear a ringtone mentioned in a song: "Humming a ringtone that crept into my head / and I pray my income can match my bills." This one ("Forever The Fighter") also has the lavishly beautiful line: "The wind carries seeds from a place where the sea rocks steady under heaven's bass." In "Thirty Year Bouquet" it's simply said but we immediately see the image: "As you cross the bridge to the dirty side of town." Same goes for a clipping from "Moorgate": "But we see ourselves as seagulls on the breeze." And how about this fascinating line: "It's love just dressed in darker clothes, with history in her eyes." Indeed, these poetic lyrics often have love as the subject, but are dipped in wry realism, as life didn't get any easier... To brighten up our lives, we're fortunate to have the musical pearls from a band like Souther Still!
By Johanna J. Bodde
The Independent 'The Information' album Reviews 18/11/2006
Alt-country and urban ennui are the key notes of this London quartet's debut album.
As wry songs of regret, lost love and penury unfurl over luminous, languorous guitars,
they tease an arch romanticism from the lo-fi London blues.
"We’re flat out, living the dream," sings Bradley Putz on "Moorgate", a song in celebration of a sickie.
Rating ***
By Kevin Harley
Altcountry.nl Online Music Magazine 12/12/2006
Americana from London. Not an unusual combination these days and certainly a description that fits Souther Still, three Brits and a New-Zealander, with their different nationalities adding even more global flavor to proceedings. Dizziness And Darkness (Open Plan Records), recorded in Cornwall, mixed in London and mastered in Nashville, is - after their first EP - a worthy full-CD debut and a very beautiful one. The alt.countrysound of this quartet thrives on pop-influences, resulting in songs built around well-layered melodies. The songs are intimate, breathing atmosphere and well-crafted. In the more stripped-down songs Souther Still reminds of fellow Brits Hobotalk, while the electric songs are reminiscent of Grant Lee Buffalo and Galaxie 500. Sensitive songs such as Open Road and the brilliant White Lies - my favorite Christmas-song - are juxtaposed with beautiful folky countryrock pieces. Only on the odd occasion the volume is cranked up, like on the modest boogie Lodgings To Let and with some slide on Cuba Libre. The quartet - Bradley Putze (vocals, guitar), Kevin Stokes (guitar), Tim Hughes (drums, keyboards), Karl Schasching (bass) - are at their magnificent best on their atmospheric mid-tempo songs. All Hands To The Pump and Up Downer Street are great songs that rank effortlessly with the classics, with a special distinction for Love's Left This Town: a brilliantly constructed rocksong, with a piano-intro ending in a climax of swirling guitars. Dizziness And Darkness closes fittingly with a Grant Lee Buffalo-style ballad.
Rating 
By Wiebren Rijkeboer
Americana-uk.com Online Music Magazine 12/11/2006
Souther Still find some Souther Man. London based Anglo-Kiwis Souther Still have plundered some core influences for their latest release 'Dizziness & Darkness'. Described as country-folk, the four-piece band consists of Kevin Stokes (guitar), Bradley Putze (vocals, guitars), Karl Schasching (bass) and Tim Hughes (druns,keyboards) - all the songs come from the main songwriters Putze & Stokes. With the demise of talented London based groups such as Grand Drive and The Vessels, Souther Still will have their work cut out making an impression in the UK. And that is a great pity because the band are blessed with Bradley Pulze's superb voice and songs that pull the listener in after each listen. The evocative 'White Lies' shows this band have the ability to write songs that show that they sit head and shoulders above some of the much touted overrated UK bands. On 'Love's Left This Town' the band have produced one of the best songs of the year, a highlight of this excellent record.
Rating 9 out of 10
By Andy Riggs
