(Inertia/Pod)

Soft and absorbent

The Soft Pack’s Extinction EP showcased a band that could write songs that were inherently listenable, but ultimately gave you no real reason to listen. Their self-titled debut continues this theme with ten tracks of mind-numbingly inoffensive garage rock. Anyone can write a poppy guitar song, but writing a good one takes talent. Unfortunately that’s a talent The Soft Pack are in short supply of. There’s just a complete lack of charm or identity in this band’s music. A significant part of this seems to stem from Matt Lamkin’s vocals, which could not possibly be any more generic or delivered more dully. There’s no energy, no urgency, no effort, no excitement. Some might argue it’s supposed to be blasé, the flatness of disaffected youth. It’s not. A song like Pull Out, which is competent musically, is castrated by Lamkin’s limp repeated shouts of ‘Pull out!’ He repeats the trick elsewhere, like a black hole sucking all the charisma in. Four tracks in Move Along does actually grab your attention with its squelchy organ intro, rapid guitar strums and pounding drums, but unfortunately this soon gives way to the album’s modus operandi of charmless guitar rock. Mexico too stands out, simply for taking on a slower, more thoughtful pace. The breezy surf rock outro is one of the better moments on here, partially because Lamkin’s vocals can’t be heard. A depressingly superfluous release.

*½

MICHAEL PINCOTT

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