Not far removed from the impact of the Siltbreeze crater, the archaeologists of Sophomore Lounge have done a remarkable job picking up the mantle of the oft-referred to label’s ability to hone in on unprecedented sounds. I don’t know if Sophomore Lounge has just taken over mining the meteoric remains that have lain dormant for a few decades, but who the fuck cares!? Sophomore Lounge is a top notch label that does not get its due credit, so hopefully comparing it to a young, plucky label that once found similar treasure from a nearby outpost is a good start to get some eyeballs on it.
And if you’re just catching up, and haven’t paid SL’s catalog the right amount of attention, Soft Gang’s self-titled is going to correct that quickly. I’ll admit being bored for the first minute as the foursome bleeted out some repetitive tonal notes but that one minute was just a countdown to something far great. Though the work of Soft Gang is more promising as long form expositions of the state of rock-as-experimentation, it’s truly a shot from the heart of 90’s rebellion. The work of musicians playing the alternative to alternative, which now is…I have no fucking clue. But it ain’t Soft Gang. No one’s Soft Gang. The band’s credentials are eye-poppers for people in the know (Phantom Halo Band, Sapat, Dichroics) but the results are so far removed. But all those weird 90’s albums that don’t even crop up on lists because they were too rare or too hard to handle, that’s what Soft Gang has been collecting. And they ain’t been sellin’ them on Discogs for hundreds of dollars to gouge fans and attract up-selling collectors, they’ve been holed up listening to them and now delivering their contents anew to fans unfamiliar. God damn, this album is doing great things to me and I can’t even put it into vivid language because Soft Gang does a great enough job of completing that trick with the music. So listen to the sample below and then go buy this thing, because it isn’t going to cost you your first born (yet).
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