The Soft Pack: “Saratoga”
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What’s in a band name? Does it contain everything about the band in a tight, little three-word bundle? Or is it merely an identifier, picked almost as a second thought. The truth, like many things, probably hides somewhere around the middle. Californian band The Soft Pack has seen more name trouble than your average band, but they’ve come out on the other side intact.
The quartet got their start in sunny San Diego in the mid-aughts. The played sharp, sunny, if slightly snotty, power-pop. But they didn’t always go by The Soft Pack. Back then they were called The Muslims, a name they picked without a lot of thought, and would come to regret for the ignorant ugliness it brought out in some people. So in 2008 the band changed their to The Soft Pack (a name with its own interesting etymology if you do some creative Googling–we won’t do it for you). They’ve been The Soft Pack for much longer now (almost four years), and in that time they’ve released two records including their fantastic 2010 self-titled.
On September 25 The Soft Pack will issue their latest full-length Strapped. The debut single off the record is “Saratoga,” today’s song of the day. The song is a perfect example of what makes The Soft Pack so good. You can almost smell the SoCal salt air and sand when you listen to it. There’s also a power and urgency in the band’s frenetic power-pop delivery. You can call The Soft Pack almost any name you like, just as long as you call them awesome.
Also on Tuesday the 25th, The Soft Pack will be in Austin playing a show at Red 7.
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