A welcome return from the witty and raucously noisy Kent garage punk duo of Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent, formerly known as Slaves, with blistering guitar, drums and shouting, a storm of sharp irony and fabulously thumping riffs. Their first album since 2018’s Acts of Fear and Love, the band name change was prompted by the suggestion of friends and fans, the newer punk pair Bob Vylan, due to its connotations, yet still remain influenced by the Kent duo. Soft Play, as they are now, have been at the forefront of the punk scene since 2012, before the likes of IDLES or certainly in parallel with the visceral rap and beat pair Sleaford Mods. It’s remains and powerfully effective, stripped down combination of Isaac on drums and vocals, and Laurie on guitars, the pair often joking that they formed this way due to the fact that no one else would play with them. It’s a noisy listen, perhaps more fun as a live show, but listen carefully and lyrics are packed with clever humour, not least Punk’s Dead, in which their parody their name change by mimicking the voice of a diehard punk fan (“I don't like change / Punk's dead, pushing up daisies/ Come and get a load of these P.C. babies”). There’s a fun punch in the guts on all sorts of subjects, from working out in the gym (Mirror Muscles) to leaking bin bags (Bin Juice Disaster) to a worm marooned on asphalt (Worms on Tarmac). Other highlights include creativity parody Isaac Is Typing, and Act Violently.
But it’s not all sandpaper-voiced anger, blistering guitar and comedy. There’s a final twist on the moving final track, Everything and Nothing, still with Isaac rasping delivery but this time with acoustic sound of violin and mandolin and a moving, powerful song of grief, complete with touching family footage, dedicated to their friend, Bailey Spencer, who died during lockdown in 2020, but also alluding to Vincent’s partner, who died of cancer in in the same year. This, being their fourth, it’s a forcefully brutal, beautiful blast. Out on BMG.
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