This Los Angeles foursome first emerged in 2008 as the Muslims, a name they elected to change after they grew disgusted with and exhausted by all the ignorant — and often racist — bullshit that came out of people's mouths during shows/interviews/conversations. At least, that's the reason they gave the NME.
Yet listening to their full-length debut (which follows a handful of buzz-building singles and EPs), you might also wonder whether they didn't adopt the Soft Pack moniker because they feared their music didn't live up to a handle as willfully incendiary as the Muslims. These 10 tracks provide a half-hour's worth of tuneful, peppy-fuzzy garage-rock fun; "Answer to Yourself" sounds like Sonic Youth pounding Pavement, and opener "C'mon" is even better than the Von Bondies' "C'mon C'mon" (though not as good as Sloan's "C'mon C'mon (We're Gonna Get It Started)").
But nothing about The Soft Pack makes you wanna know who these guys are or what they have to say about the world outside their practice space. As the Muslims, they would've had to deliver more.
