The Soft Pack: Not Just Another Indie Rock Group from So-Cal

Indie rockers wear a wide array of influences on their sleeves.

Sure, some will say indie rockers The Soft Pack are just another indistinct underground group out of So-Cal, destined for expeditious evanescence but I beg to differ. Yes, The Soft Pack (they originally went by the name “The Muslims”, but changed itdue to consistent derogatory racist remarks) owe a great deal to musical predecessors such as Third Eye Blind, Spoon, Deerhunter, the Smiths, etc. I will admit, they’ve a laundry list of influences noticeably demonstrated throughout their LP. However, what makes The Soft Pack worth listening to is the fact that they take the familiarities illustrated by their influential precursors and expand on them, with emphasis and veracity. Another major pro – The Soft Pack boast retro appeal: the 50s-esque “Mexico” plays like the soundtrack to an end-of-the-summer reminiscence trip, concluding with a bellowing guitar-distortion that is just as liberating as it is gleefully dissonant.

The incautious romp “Pull Out” is a rebellious surfer jam at its incorrigible best – wailing guitars accompanied by a menacingly defiant organ, enveloped in Matt Lamkin’s apathetic vocals, sounding as if they’re echoing from the inside of a tidal wave engulfing yet another hapless surfer. Album closer “Parasites” proves the group saves the best for last: a driving indie-punk seismic storm of wayward delinquency. Check ‘em out before they’re forced to alter their musical moniker yet again.