Folks were just beginning to file downstairs at Cake Shop when the band launched into "C'mon," clearly ready to get on with their Friday night. It was totally a I-won't-do-what-you-tell-me Soft Pack thing to do. The LA band were finishing up a whirlwind tour promoting the release of their debut album, which included 10 shows the previous Saturday in their current hometown and had been going nonstop ever since. Only one show this day in NYC, but it was a late one -- doors at midnight -- as well as being all-ages and free. Me, I was in the bathroom line when they started but made it down front by the end of the the second song of their 13-number set.
The Soft Pack are a lot of fun to watch: Guitarist Matt McLoughlin has an intense, gnashed-teeth grin on his face the whole time; bassist David Lantzman (whose birthday it was) is all laid back California cool; and stand-up drummer Brian Hill keeps things barrelling along sans hi-hat. And singer Matt Lamkin ties it all together with that low key but we-mean-it-man attitude. We got most of the new album, a few choice cuts from their Muslims days and their almost unrecognizable cover of Phoenix's "Fences." They finish with the storming "Parasites" (the new album's only retread of old material) that makes the most of it's one chord. The song typifies the Soft Pack too. Maybe the parts aren't new, but they play them like they are.
SETLIST: C'Mon | Down On Loving | Answer to Yourself | Extinction | Bright Side | Right and Wrong | Tides of Time | Beside Myself | More or Less | Faith Man | Fences | Pull Out | Parasites
MP3: The Soft Pack - Pull Out (buy it!)
I think "Pull Out" may be my favorite song on the new album, rivalling "Parasites" for energy and snarl, sort of surf rock via New Zealand. The whole album is good and, apart from "Parasites" (which was just a single) it's all new material. That first EP never really got a proper release so they coulda just reused all those songs for this, which they didn't (and clearly didn't need to) do and you gotta give them credit for that. The Soft Pack will be back in NYC in April with Nodzz, The Beaters and Male Bonding, so don't miss 'em when they're play. Dates are after the jump.
Feb 12 David Letterman USA TV Debut New York
Feb 13 Joiners Southampton, UK
Feb 14 Freebutt Brighton, UK
Feb 15 Cooler Bristol, UK
Feb 17 NME show at KOKO w/ Babyshambles - SOLD OUT! London, UK
Feb 18 The Plug, Sheffield Sheffield
Feb 19 Ruby Lounge Manchester, UK
Feb 20 Korova Liverpool, UK
Feb 22 Cluny Newcastle, UK
Feb 23 King Tuts Glasgow, UK
Feb 24 Cabaret Voltaire Edinburgh, UK
Feb 25 Rocket Leeds, UK
Feb 26 Bodega Nottingham, UK
Feb 27 O2 Academy 3 Birmingham, UK
Mar 1 MTC Cologne, Germany
Mar 2 Paradiso Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mar 3 AB CLub Brussels, Belgium
Mar 4 Nouveau Casino Paris, France
Mar 6 Indie Club Grüner Jäger Hamburg, Germany
Mar 7 Zapata (Tacheles) Berlin, Germany
Mar 21 DOUBLE WIDE BAR (BRO FEST- STARTS AT 3PM) Dallas, Texas
Mar 23 PROUD LARRY’S w/ NODZZZ, BEATERS Oxford, Mississippi
Mar 24 EXIT/IN w/ NODZZZ, BEATERS Nashville, Tennessee
Mar 25 THE EARL w/ NODZZZ, BEATERS Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 26 CAT’S CRADLE w/ NODZZZ, BEATERS Carrboro, North Carolina
Mar 27 BLACK CAT w/ NODZZZ, BEATERS WASHINGTON DC, Washington DC
Mar 29 GREAT SCOTT w/ NODZZZ, BEATERS Allston, Massachusetts
Mar 30 JOHNNY BRENDAS w/ NODZZZ, BEATERS Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 31 MAXWELL’S w/ NODZZZ, BEATERS Hoboken, New Jersey
Apr 1 THE MERCURY LOUNGE w/ NODZZZ, BEATERS Manhattan, New York
Apr 3 MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG w/ MALE BONDING, NODZZZ, BEATERS Brooklyn, New York
Apr 6 LA TULIPE w/ MALE BONDING, BEATERS Montreal
Apr 7 EL MOCAMBO CLUB w/ MALE BONDING, BEATERS Toronto
Apr 8 MAGIC STICK w/ MALE BONDING, BEATERS Detroit, Michigan
Apr 9 THE EMPTY BOTTLE w/ MALE BONDING, BEATERS Chicago, Illinois
Apr 10 TURF CLUB w/ MALE BONDING, BEATERS St. Paul, Minnesota
Apr 13 CHOP SUEY w/ MALE BONDING Seattle, Washington
Apr 14 DOUG FIR LOUNGE w/ MALE BONDING Portland, Oregon
Apr 15 BOTTOM OF THE HILL w/ MALE BONDING San Francisco, California
Apr 18 COACHELLA Indio, California
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