Recorded with Kris Poulin in Logan Square, Chicago, the first full-length Softies LP features new bass player Dan Kiss in what would bass be the longest-lasting line-up of Soft Targets in three years. Cover art by Chris Auman.
Soft Targets - We Hate You Soft Targets CD LP
The members of Soft Targets aren't kids, and as a result the dozen songs on We Hate You Soft Targets reveal a maturity and gravity often missing from the repertoire of younger acts. Their post-punk sound is wholly appealing, and tunes like 'Walk Away' and 'See You On The Way Back Down' exhibit a singular blend of energy and ennui. It's grown-up music that happily retains a youthful oomph.—Ilinois Entertainer
Chicago's Soft Targets have always been known as a supergroup—although the lineup has rotated so much that which groups make it "super" are constantly changing. Suffice to say, you've got alums from Seam, Lustre King and Reagan National Crash Diet here, and a sound that veers from punky pop to the more dramatic, minimalist leanings of early Raygun/Pegboy. Tonight the band celebrates the release of its latest full-length, We Hate You Soft Targets! (the band also plays a free show at Permanent Records at 2:30pm today). Philly's Clockcleaner (on Baltimore's Reptilian Records) plays music you could clean your clock to—if you wanted to bust it into little pieces, rhythmically stomp on it and then kick it to all corners of the room.—Time-Out Chicago
Despite numerous line-ups since the band's inception in the summer of 2004, Soft Targets released this cohesive album this fall. The sound is simple, straightforward pop-rock (think the Toadies meet the Pixies). The band's previous release, Whatever Happened to Soft Targets?, an EP, received positive reviews from the local press. "This four-piece just about nails an icy-cool, post-punk sound halfway through the Only Ones and Joy Division," wrote Miles Raymer in the Chicago Reader. And bassist Dan Kiss, whose chugging baselines sound dirtier than the dirtiest White Stripes song, works a day job that seems unlikely for an older indie rocker: he's a Cook County assistant public defender.—Demo Magazine
