Is it “Fennario” or “Fennario’s”? No one knows! Whatever the name is actually supposed to be, the coffee shop on Church Street (whose sign is posted as “Fennario”) provides this college town with a little bit of “eclectic” flavor, and encourage local performance talent, especially the local music scene. The shop itself is tiny, but you can almost always count on an interesting conversation or two – and the upstairs room has been host to dozens of bands. Saturday night another band graced the cozy venue, although this one was a little less local and a little bit better known. According to forthesound.com, where Southcott was recently featured, the band is signed with both Rust Records and Less Avenged Records. Their sound is called “hard to categorize” – usually a valuable thing in a media world where labels are hard to shed. They’re an indie band with “pop punk with active rock” influences, according to the review. According to absolutepunk.net, they’re influenced by bands such as Bright Eyes, The Beatles, NOFX, and Say Anything.
Southcott, hailing from Rockland County, New York, was created in November of 2001 by Mike Bateman and John Damiano, who had played together previously. They were joined by local friend Chris Pennings, and Southcott was born. After some lineup changes, the group consisted of Mike Bateman (guitar, vocals), John Damiano (drums), Chris Pennings (vocals), Mike Sullivan (guitar, vocals) and Trix (bass). Until February, that is, when John Damiano left the band. Their myspace site states, “As we are at an important phase in our careers, we feel that our band has to operate as a team.” They went on to wish Damiano the best in his future endeavors. He was replaced by Jesse Ordansky on drums.
In February, they released their first full-length album, Flee the Scene (not to be confused with the band of the same name). The album consists of ten songs: short, catchy, and according to absolutepunk.net, the kind of melodies you can’t help but sing along with. Due to aggressive internet advertising and a heavy tour schedule in 2005 and this year, the impact of this group will probably continue to grow.
To find out more about the band or listen to songs, check out their myspace at www.myspace.com/southcott, or the official website at www.southcottrocks.com.