“Answer to Yourself”
from the album The Soft Pack
2010
iTunes
Formerly known as The Muslims, The Soft Pack brings a lot of swagger to its garage-rock sound. There’s a load of gimmick-free confidence in the band’s hooks, as its distorted guitars and driving drums demonstrate that less can be more. The Soft Pack’s self-titled full-length debut is straighter than black coffee, and twice as bitter: Frontman Matt Lamkin isn’t afraid to fly his philosophical flag and face hard realities. It’s a tough job, and he does it well in “Answer to Yourself.”
The song is an impassioned call to self-sufficiency: “You’ve got talent, don’t you know / You’re more talented than you know,” Lamkin sings. But he shoves this positive attitude up against an ugly guitar solo — and an even uglier thought: “But I think I’m gonna die before I see my time.” Lamkin’s observations may be simple, but his voice has the well-traveled but youthful assurance of a Minor Threat-era Ian MacKaye. It’s the sound of a man who’s thought long and hard about life’s wins and losses, not to mention a welcome escape from escapism.