Written by Sean Sebastian
Photos by Timothy Casten
The East Brunswick Club is an intimate venue. The room can only hold about 150 people and the lights are akin to those present at any local house party. In the way of aesthetics, there was what looked like a sparkly bed sheet draped behind the drum kit. And that was about it.
When it came time for The Soft Pack to begin, they had to worm their way through the crowd from the back of the room. The band seemingly wore what was the most comfortable; tracksuit pants, dirty polo shirts and ill-fitting white shirts namely. Once they'd taken to the stage, their first bars instantly filled the room with a painful pounding of the drums and bass and an incredible amount of fuzz that almost made the guitars inaudible. But then the band moves onto their second song, with not but a small smile and inaudible chatter behind the mics, and once your ears adjust, you realise The Soft Pack are an amazing live band. And it is the complete lack of showmanship or any aesthetic efforts that makes their gigs one of the best you'll attend.
Their debut self-titled album has accrued favourable reviews for its raw, minimalistic energy and constantly gather comparisons to the likes of Eddy Current and the Suppression Ring and The Modern Lovers. And, to put it very simply, it boils down to their bare bones style. It's their droning melodies, particularly evident in 'Down on Lovin''. It's their twangy, distorted, almost ugly sounding guitars instantly recognisable in the opener 'C'Mon'. It's simultaneously refreshing and exciting to hear music totally uninterested in projecting an image.
The gig had almost drawn to a close. They'd played through some newer and older tunes like 'Parasites' and begrudgingly banged out 'Down on Lovin'' at the request of a rowdy fan. "This our last one. It's all we got really," singer Matt Lamkin exclaims quietly. Then the band shuffle off-stage. There were no pyrotechnics. No multi-levelled stages. No sweeping fluorescent lights. And you're actually left dumbfounded and in awe precisely because of this. The Soft Pack are here to play music. Not to look cool.
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