Punk was the shout, the sneer (Johnny Rotten!), the rattling beat, the chorus. Punk is still all of those aspects, but I left it behind after a 70s love affair. Rarely does modern punk call to me, and if it does, the key has to be the melodic content. Melodic choruses drew me to the Soft Pack’s self-titled debut. Four blokes from California, their songs snap and kick, the lyrics cry rebel, and singer Matt Lamkin’s voice captures punk’s heyday. I wish they hadn’t needed to follow Green Day and include obligatory ballads but even these are listenable. Big tracks include the call-to-action, riffy ‘C’mon’; the fierce, chugging ‘Pull Out’; and the propulsive, soaring ‘Answer to Yourself’.
Modern, basic punk. 3 stars.