The Soft Pack/ The Soft Pack

Hanging out with The Soft Pack must be somewhat like a joyride if this second eponymous LP is anything to judge them by. They’ve stepped up quite a leap from the diminished melodies and lyrics of debut The Muslims (when they were just about still The Muslims). 

Rude collateral damage falls from some of Matt Lamkin’s abrupt assertions with all the cool self-assuredness that a life of soaking up Vitamin D in California can bring. Take the abrasions evident in opener ‘C’mon’, where all the mirth to be captured from faddism is rounded off with some attention-seeking cymbals and flashier guitar than their debut had us believe they could produce.  

Where the sound may have hit a big time of sorts, that’s not to say they’ve chamfered the edges at all. ‘Move Along’ benefits from a devil-may-care skirmish with 60s beat rhythms and demented scaling organ, kept fresh by blasts of a bass far too bolshie to be ignored. ‘Lamkin’ does quite a good impression of being Lou Reed for ‘Down On Lovin’, but is fortunately blessed with a more integral tunefulness than his predecessor, ideally pitching at lengths on ‘Tides Of Time’. 

To throw the cat amongst the pigeons, it’s tempting to see The Soft Pack as combining The Strokes’ aptitude for guitar thrashing and alternate wistfulness, with lessons on lyrics from the Followills. One need only listen to ‘Mexico’ for a fever of Cassablancas and co’s latter forays with soft guitars, then ‘Flammable’ for the point when the barn was burnt to the ground and the hillbillies revolted.  

While The Soft Pack maybe aren’t as clever as they like to think they are, ‘Answer To Yourself’ is a great tune not complacent with its pop momentum and cautious of being a bit too prissy. Likewise, ‘Parasites’ is as caustic and rock n’ roll as the name suggests, with crisp drum reverb like gunshots and wilder abandon on the vocals.  

The Soft Pack is one of those albums dipping a toe into a booze-like cauldron of rock n roll music and coming back out without wallowing under the influence. It doesn’t indulge in enough novelty to really strike between the eyes, but if it catches you unawares these songs feel like they could crash at any moment.