Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
The best of The Southbound Attic Band doesn’t even cover how enormously satisfying, how gracious, and how much fun it is to be in the presence of Barry Jones and Ronnie Clark as they perform on stage in various venues in their home town; if anything, the finest band that the vast majority of the U.K has yet to discover, is the sense of occasion they bring to your ears as they undoubtedly offer a view of the world of acceptance, tolerance, love and humour, where they are to are to be fully enjoyed.
What constitutes the best is always up for debate, it is the playful conversation which leads to a kind of resolution, but one that can soon resurface once again when the need arises for clarification, or just out of obstinance and self-interested opinion.
What shouldn’t be in doubt is that the duo, or in the case of the early recording sessions with Geoff Hall on keyboards, as a threesome, is just how vital The Southbound Attic are to the listener. If they say it’s the best, then quite frankly it has to be, for no one can dare argue with a pair that create scenic tours of vocal poetry, of elegant and lavish lyrics that sum up human trial and error, of substance, and the grit of the everyday.
There are times in life when a song will catch you unexpectedly, where it will leave you with a lump in the throat, no matter how many times you may have had the pleasure of its company, and to that end the smile, that gratifying beauty to which tracks such as The Ballad of George and Maude, Last Man Standing, the excellent Compromised, Fire Down Below, Meet Me By The River, Valparaiso Bound, and the phenomenal Hide The Sauage all vie for attention is staggeringly cool; not just a lump in the throat, but a heart full of accommodating music that swirls, that catches fire, and remains one of enamoured groove for all time.
The Best Of The Southbound Attic Band, not just an example of brilliance wrapped up in one enormous parcel, but of humanity, of co-operation, of humility, of seeing existence through the eyes of true artists; and one that you won’t be able to get enough of.
Ian D. Hall