The Soft Pack: Debut Album
By Team JamBase Nov 12, 2009 • 8:36 am PST
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Chances are you have encountered the no-frills razor sharp music of The Soft Pack at some point over the last year and a half. Whether you’ve seen them share stages with Phoenix, Franz Ferdinand, or The Breeders on recent tours, heard their deadpan cover of “Fences” on the Phoenix remix album, or had the whimsical surfer-punk tune “Extinction” from the Muslims EP stuck in your head for the last seven months, the band has laid the groundwork to release one of 2010’s best debut albums.
The Soft Pack began as a collaboration of two friends, Matt Lamkin and Matty McLoughlin. Both played guitar, but Matty more obsessively while Matt fancied himself more of a singer/wordsmith. Both Matt and Matty were frustrated music aficionados, deciding they’d had enough of all their fellow hometown bands dressing and sounding like chilly English groups from the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. “We wanted to start a band that played simple, catchy, smart rock songs,” says Matt. “There weren’t many bands in San Diego doing that at the time. So we did.” The aesthetic that Matt and Matty honed early on is the piece de résistance of their debut – a spare yet fiery jangle of guitars, drums, base and pokerfaced singing. Matt and Matty played the San Diego circuit with a revolving roster of bassists and drummers, before recruiting permanent members Dave Lantzman (bass) and Brian Hill (guitars) just in time to play a raucous 11 show run at CMJ 2008.
The much-deserved buzz spread, and the band was picked up on tours with The Breeders, Franz Ferdinand and the Last Shadow Puppets, before hitting SXSW ’09 and releasing the limited edition 12-inch Muslims EP that flew off the shelves. They signed deals with Kemado Records in the U.S. and Heavenly Records in the U.K., and crafted their debut album alongside producer Eli Janney at Saltland Studios in Brooklyn, New York during the late summer of 2009. “We’ve spent a lot of time talking about music,” says Matty, and in their 10-song debut, running at a little over thirty minutes, it shows. The band is already making waves in the U.K., with both Mojo and Q profiling the band as “ones to watch” in 2010, and NME including the album in their picks for key records of next year. Already, lead single “Answer to Yourself” has been getting a great response from U.K. radio, with a recent first play on BBC1.
Opening track “C’Mon” kicks off the record with a playful challenge from the band, after which the four-piece race through the deliciously poppy and refreshing “Down on Lovin’.” By track three, “Answer to Yourself,” The Soft Pack’s signature no-frills sound comes to a head with an irresistible “last-gang-in-town” swagger. Other highlights include “Pull Out,” which captures the energy and wild abandon of the band’s live shows, while a brief respite can be found in the hypnotic sway of “Mexico,” the only song on the album where the pace drops from a sprint. “Parasites,” a standout track and favorite of the live set, closes out the album for a triumphant finish.
The Soft Pack complete track listing
1. C’mon
2. Down On Loving
3. Answer to Yourself
4. Move Along
5. Pull Out
6. More Or Less
7. Tides of Time
8. Flammable
9. Mexico
10. Parasites
Praise for The Soft Pack
“Their blurry, disaffected rock reminds us of New York rock when The Strokes were the biggest band ever, and also Spacemen 3 minus the reverb and plus a bunch of dirt.” – The Fader
“Driven by springy Gang of Four-style bass lines, brittle guitar stabs and singer-guitarist Lamkin’s sneering delivery.” – Rolling Stone
“The San Diego quartet have cherry-picked the best of their heroes and made the result their own.” NME
The Soft Pack is available now for pre-order via InSound here.
The band will be releasing a 12″ of first single “Answer to Yourself”, which also includes the track “C’Mon” and b- sides “Eat Gold” and “Faith Man”, in December 2009.
