Southpacific - Constance...

The Ottawa trio of Southpacific didn’t manage to stay together for very long only releasing, as far as I know, an EP titled 33 and their full-length album Constance. I unfortunately didn’t run across the group until after they had disbanded apparently. However, their album Constance to me stands as a hidden gem among the shoegaze/post-rock set. Being a completely instrumental act and playing this sort of music, one would think it would be a bit difficult to obtain and hold a listeners attention for over an hour without the typical whispered and dreamlike vocals. Southpacific though doesn’t need vocals, and actually if they did have vocals they wouldn’t have nearly the same effect. Although, the band does use vocals in one song on Constance, however they are buried underneath the layers of swirling fuzz that they are almost non-existent anyway.

From the get go, Constance starts in with a churning of guitar feedback that sets the mood for the entire record. It’s a slow, swirling, and captivating sound that eventually almost feels as if it’s hypnotizing you. Although I am sure the album garners many comparisons to My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, it really stands on its own as something completely different. It’s just as much ambient/chill as it is a shoegaze album. Yes, it does contain a good amount of feedback, but it never crosses the line of being noisy or ridiculously abrasive. Not to say that Southpacific’s sound isn’t loud, as they are most definitely loud at times, but it’s the type of loud that fills a room in an atmospheric way. Really, if Southpacific has been lifting from anyone I would almost say that they remind me more of Flying Saucer Attack mixed with a bit of Boards of Canada. The music is slow and practically just oozes out of the speakers and it contains that almost otherworldly warmth that BOC has wrapped listeners in for years now.

It’s always a shame that something like this flies under the radar and by the time someone like me runs across it, it’s always too late. Then I am faced with the fact that this is all there is from whatever group it may be. It’s extremely disappointing to me.

Southpacific – Parallel Lines [MP3]
Southpacific – Analogue 9 [MP3]
Southpacific – Stay Ahead, Far Behind [MP3]

I have feeling that this will probably be out of print soon, if it already isn’t. Regardless, you can still pick it up at Amazon for only 7 bucks. There is also a bunch of used copies, which can be had for practically nothing. So, if you dig what you hear definitely pick this up. It’s a solid record.