What did you inherit from your parents? A house? A good head of hair? Crippling anxiety that will significantly affect all of your adult relationships? On their new single “Long Line”, Soft Bait ponder the baggage we inherit from generations past in wry, knowing tones.
“I come from a long line of bad backs!” lead singer Joshua Hunter laments throughout the track, cursing his wretched luck. “Real chip on the shoulder / Real chip off the old block,” he snarls.
“It’s about self-concept, the beliefs and traits we inherit and hold onto, even when they don’t serve us,” Hunter says of the band’s new single.
“Long Line” is the most cohesive example yet of Soft Bait’s particular vision of post-punk: gothic-tinged and off-kilter; playful and self-aware; a jittery rhythm aptly accompanying anxious lyrics; a tantalising build culminating in a momentous explosion of skidding guitars and howling vocals.
On the latter point, Hunter has never sounded stronger as a frontman. He swaggers through “Long Line” while doing his best Mark E. Smith impression, his voice expertly conveying the turbulent emotions that come with generational baggage; he sings with a shrug and an eye roll at the beginning, but by the track’s end, a frustrated weariness emerges.
You won’t regret watching the Ryan Fielding-directed music video, which was made with the support of NZ On Air Music. A fever dream masquerading as a music video, the viewer is dropped into a dystopian future where workers battle their way through shifts at a pizza parlour, locked into glitching VR headsets. It’s better if you just see for yourself below.
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“Long Line” follows recent single “New Leaf”, both of which feature on Soft Bait’s forthcoming album Life Advice, their second album and first since signing to Flying Nun. The band’s debut album, 2022’s Plot Points, promised much, but the first two singles off Life Advice hint at a much more confident album to come.
Soft Bait’s Flying Nun signing means that the esteemed label now boasts two stellar up-and-coming Auckland-based post-punk bands on its current roster, with Soft Bait fitting nicely alongside Ringlets.
But a question for Soft Bait – Hunter is joined by Patrick Hickley, Keria Paterson, and Cameron Mackintosh in the lineup – remains: “The Lord Is My German Shepherd proves that Ringlets are the most exciting post-punk band to emerge from the New Zealand music scene in years,” we wrote in praise of Ringlets’ second album, which arrived last month. Only time will tell if Life Advice can prove this statement wrong.
If you’re around Auckland on July 26th, Soft Bait are celebrating their new album (release date: July 25th) with a one-off performance at Flying Nun Records on Karangahape Road. It’s free — catch them playing at 3pm on the day.
Soft Bait’s “Long Line” is out now. Life Advice is out Friday, July 25th via Flying Nun Records (pre-order here).
