SO!

SO! came to my attention by way of a MySpace friend request and immediately caught my ear with their heavy instrumental post-rock that falls in line with things you might have heard from Mogwai and Tortoise. Actually, SO! goes many steps beyond that. At times their songs are almost a study of American indie rock of the past twenty years with nods to bands such as Slint (clearly a defining influence), Sonic Youth, Fugazi, June of '44, and many more. So much so, in fact, that it came as a bit of a surprise to find out that they're from Tuscany and not Chicago or Boston or El Paso or something. With a bit of touring, and some refinement in the studio, SO! would fit in very well with the rest of the roster over at Hydra Head.

I've posted three songs below for a taste of what SO! is all about. "Mammoth's Step" will offer the most immediate impression as the band wastes no time in exposing their love of blending melancholic distorted dissonance and chugging steam locomotive riffs. "Experimental Man With Horse" and "Florence '66" both wander more towards heady, introspective, Explosions in the Sky territory - never straying very far from the darkness always bubbling under the surface while somehow managing to invoke shoegaze along the lines of Ride. SO many obvious influences and somehow SO! has managed to create an identity for themselves that makes their songs better the more you listen to them.

If you live in Italy, be sure to see SO! live, I'm guessing they put on a great show.

Listen:
"Mammoth's Step"
"Experimental Man With Horse"
"Florence '66"

Visit SO! on MySpace and check out the song "Let Godt", it's my favorite of the four songs of theirs and would've been posted here if MySpace wasn't always slightly broken.