Album Review: The Soft Pack - Strapped

Strapped, the second album proper from LA-via-San Diego four-piece The Soft Pack (not including the 2009 compilation of their previous work as The Muslims before the PC world we live in forced a name change) finds them refining the slacker take on garage rock that they proffered on their 2010 self-titled debut.

It starts off promisingly enough, opener Saratoga hitting like a celebratory rush, relaxed and urgent at the same time, while follow-up Second Look has melodies and hooks to burn. They Say continues in this trend, but that's when things begin to morph; Tallboy is sluggish and somewhat vapid, meandering on its merry way to nowhere in particular. It's Bobby Brown, however, that is going to be the deal-breaker for many, the groove-based R&B pastiche a massive departure and one which tends to get stuck in your head, and not in the good way (grating rather than gratifying). Ray's Mistake is another curveball with its upbeat blues vibe, while the restrained '50s swagger of Everything I Know also brings a different feel to proceedings, but sadly much of the album's remainder feels like The Soft Pack by numbers. There's horns and subtle synth sounds thrown into the mix throughout in an attempt to change the aesthetic, but sometimes these additions seem arbitrary rather than requisite.

Strapped is above all the sound of a band striving to evolve beyond the parameters they set themselves early in their career, but not wanting to stray from the formula that's worked so far. There's still a lot to like here, but here's hoping they find their eventual destination soon because they have better in them.