Southbound Unleashes Seven Killer Acts

With the first announcement for this year's Falls Music & Arts Festival all taken care of, you can bet that anyone residing over on the western side of the country are waiting with baited breath to hear which artists are coming over after Falls to play the Southbound Festival in 2013.

We were thinking about being all sneaky and saying that you got ripped off and that no one is really going to bother to make the trip this year, but that would be mean and, frankly, pointless, as the line up fucking rules.

You get:

THE FLAMING LIPS
SBTRKT
THE VACCINES
BOY & BEAR
COOLIO
BEST COAST
BEACH HOUSE

Here's our Southbound playlist!

And here's what we've had to say about these artists. It might look familiar...

THE FLAMING LIPS:

Is there a better live band on the planet than The Flaming Lips? While they continue to be psychedelic masterminds with all elements of their music and their explosive, multi-faceted visual and aural assaulting live shows, the past decade has seen them find a formula for their performance which really works. Frontman Wayne Coyne leads the throngs of people who flock to see their show on every occasion like some kind of super-friendly musical shaman.

BEACH HOUSE:

The Baltimore-based indie darlings seem to be able to do no wrong, with their three most recent records Devotion, Teen Dream and Bloom all raved about for good reason. Victoria Legrand's voice will break your heart, while Alex Scally knows how to make it shine at its brightest, the way way he frames it with his unique compositions. While their dreamy indie-pop music might not immediately scream “festival favourite”, they have proved with their slot on Laneway a couple of years back that it can work in this kind of environment.

BEST COAST:

Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno captured the hearts of so many with their Crazy For You record a couple of years back, a pop record all innocent and naïve that hit so close to home to many. Rather than follow that formula with second album The Only Place, Cosentino has taken stock of where they are in life and written appropriately. Their music is the perfect soundtrack to an Australian summer and their third visit in under two years is well and truly welcome!

COOLIO:

We asked for it, we got it. In the mid-1990s this guy was the coolest man on the pop charts. If you're a certain age you don't just know Gangsta's Paradise, but you know 1234 Sumpin New and maybe even See You When You Get There. We never thought we'd see Coolio live, we're not sure whether he'll be any good, but we're not going to miss it.

THE VACCINES:

We're not sure if they're technically still a “hype band” seeing as they have kind of proven themselves with tours and a pretty decent album. One thing is for sure, if you're a fan of these UK indie wunderkinds then you're gonna be squealing at the prospect of their return. They almost seem like the ultimate festival band, their music just has that sense of frivolity about it that makes you want to get stupid. You'll have that chance at Southbound this year.

SBTRKT:

With his self-titled, debut record, this masked man had the world eating out of the palm of his hands. Well, at least the well-dressed younger set. His electro/post-dubstep/house style has come at the perfect time and he pulls it off with aplomb. After a series of epic shows at Laneway, SBTRKT is back and ready to make you dance at Southbound.

BOY & BEAR:

On the local tip, Southbound couldn't ask for a band much more adored to be a part of their festival line up this year. Boy & Bear have spent the year conquering the country following the release of their Moonfire record, on top of this they've had a solid crack overseas and it looks like they could well connect with audiences on a large scale in other territories too. A massive regional tour has just finished for these guys and news of their Southbound billing has ensured punters have their fix of indie-folk in this first lot of bands.

All these incredible acts are hitting Busselton's Sir Stewart Bovell Park on Friday 4 January and Saturday 5. There are heaps more acts to be announced so make sure you keep coming back to check it out.