Yesterday a package showed up on my doorstep from Russia, a small yellow cardboard box with curious writing and shipping labels from foreign lands on it. It turns out that it was an item I bought on eBay that I didn’t realize had to ship all the way from Russia. The thing is, the shipping box was almost as interesting than the goods it contained. My name and my address were written in English, but the handwriting had a strange quality to it that I found fascinating – a confident print, but with slightly misshapen letters and inconsistent capitalization. I could read it, but something about it was as foreign as the Cyrillic that covered the rest of the box.
This box is a lot like the music of Kurt Vile. His music is familiar, some songs sounding almost like old American folk standards, and he sings them in such a way that convinces the listener that it should be a well-known melody, with lyrics that will never be forgotten. However, there is something very strange about the final product. His songs are affected with large amounts of delay, reverb, and synth noise that might seem unexpected, but fit perfectly. We’ll see how his backup band, the Violators, form his live sound, which I would expect to be markedly different than his studio work.
Watch this video to learn just about all you need to about The Soft Pack before coming to Thursday’s show. Formerly known as The Muslims, the music of the Soft Pack is catchy and fun; simple, but heavy. Get ready for fun, dancing, and if it gets punk enough, moshing.
so – details:
Who: The Soft Pack, Kurt Vile & The Violators
Where: The Blind Pig, 208 S. First St.
When: Thurs, 10/28, doors at 9pm
And?: $10adv/$12 day of. 18+
thatsaboutit
pp
