The Soft Pack work best in the single format. Credit it to their sound, the aluminum clang, garage rock aesthetic so endemic to indie rock over the last few years: a barrage of insanely catchy, proto-punk surf guitar-encrusted nuggets like those collected by Lenny Kaye on the seminal 60s comps. A SoCal answer to The Black Lips, weaned on surfboards, stoner culture, and the San Diego sun. Or White Denim with shorter attention spans and stickier hooks.
Truthfully, I’d sort of written these dudes off after they changed their name from The Muslims. After all, what could be less punk rock than bowing to politically correct impulses from humorless drones-it’s not they were scrawling Danish caricatures of Muhammed or something. But over the last few months, the band has built on the potential they showed on classic early single, “Extinction.” First, with their remix of Phoenix’s “Fences,” which spun the former’s Gallic elan into a psychedelic squall. And now, “Answer to Yourself,” a three minute burst of hard drums, scuzzy guitars, and caustic cold-hearted vocals. Anything but soft.
Download:
MP3: Phoenix-“Fences” (The Soft Pack Remix)
Via Some Velvet Blog via NME Daily Download
MP3: The Soft Pack-“Answer to Yourself”
