The Southern River Band – Easier Said Than Done (Civilians) (13th Floor Album Review)
Easier Said Than Done is the fourth album by Aussie rockers The Southern River Band. Recorded by Grammy-winning producer Nick Didia (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen) in Byron earlier this year, the album slaps out a series of songs inspired by 70s Australian pub-rock.
It’s unapologetic rock. Please don’t go in expecting anything else. We’ve heard it from these parts of the world before. AC/DC, Jet and to a lesser extent, Powderfinger (of which lead singer Bernard Fanning has written a tune, but I’ll get to that later).
The Southern River Band (now my 1st favourite river band, because I really hated the little one!) lay every standard rock and roll motif out for your listening pleasure. Some riffs feel like they’ve been lifted straight out of the 70s. The lead guitar has the right amount of squibbly-do to the extent that I can almost predict the lick they’re going to play next. And, these guys love to use the Thin Lizzy-harmonising-guitar-thing a lot.
Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I feel like picking up (or in most cases, just streaming) this album is a choice. And, if any of the bands I mentioned in the last two paragraphs strike resonance with your musical tastes, you are most likely going to enjoy this band.
The album rips off with Don’t Take It To Heart, and keeps a consistent pace. It’s catchy enough. I could envisage myself going to see them live without knowing a song and enjoying myself.
As I have alluded already, the lead guitar defines Easier Said Than Done heavily. And they know how to play guitar. Well, a certain style of guitar. On first listen, I wasn’t actually that impressed. ‘Oasis meets AC/DC’, I announced to my friends. But after a few listens, yes, I felt it was still predictable. Yet I found that I really enjoyed it. There’s a fair bit of wah-wah pedal in the fold too (something I feel we don’t hear much from these days!)
But it’s not just blues riffs and hammer-ons, It’s What It’s and One of These Nights (I’ll Be Gone) give a slightly softer tone. The former perhaps a little more effective than the latter.
Justin Hawkins famously dubbed these guys ‘A Proper F***ing Rock Band’ and even picked them up as a support band for The Darkness. And he’s right, these guys derive from the blues and embrace rock n’ roll in earnest. The Southern River Band want you to know it as well. I found it a little overkill at times. In Suits Me Just Fine, guitar-vocalist and mullet enthusiast, Cal Kramer just HAD to mention his Van Halen t-shirts.
And to top it off, Aussie rock royalty Bernard Fanning has gifted them the tune No Such Time. Personally, it took me a few listens to realise I wasn’t actually just listening to the Powderfinger live album I was lent in my teens.
Rock and/or roll lyrics can age quite poorly. So, it’s always interesting to see newcomers put their take to the genre. There are some memorable chorus lines. Fuck You, Pay Me was a bit of fun despite being about the normal ‘everything is too expensive’ theme that appears on most modern rock albums these days. ‘You’ve got the itch, I’ve got the finger’ is actually a pretty clever lyric in Lay it On Me.
I still believe I am missing out on fully enjoying this album without seeing the accompanying live show. But The Southern River Band pull every punch in the rock n’ roll handbook on Easier Said Than Done. It’s a fun jaunt that doesn’t take itself too seriously, despite the band wishing it were 1976.
Daniel Edmonds
Easier Said Than Done is out now via Civilians
