5.17.2010

HYPE ME CAPTAIN: The Soft Pack

Every week, I throw down an artist or track that should be common knowledge.
San Diego 4-piece band the Soft Pack brings their own brand of garage punk that is littered with saltwater and sunshine.  Their second, and probably more notable, LP The Soft Pack is full of raw energy and easygoing languor.  A more mature release, the sunny sounds coming from your speakers might deceive you as vocalist Mark Lamkin croons cynical, sarcastic words, indicating a different sort of animal from the usual upbeat SoCal garage scene.  Fun in the sun, sure, but the Soft Pack likes to remind us that Southern California is still plagued by LA's brutal smog madness coming from the evening traffic on the freeways.

They're noisy, they're intense, and keep it real with surf-rock guitar lines, a jangly-pop tune, and completely punk out like its 1977.  A post-Strokes comparison would most likely be unnecessarily irrelevant because they pretty much do it their way, following no straight path/influence to creating their songs.  They've got the SoCal swag that can't be imitated because there's nothing to imitate, because they're not really imitating.  It's fresh and they know it, but don't care.

"Answer To Yourself"

"C'mon"

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