Rating: NNN
Don’t be fooled by their name. There’s nothing cuddly or gentle about the Soft Moon. On the San Francisco five-piece’s second full-length album, they go straight for the jugular, delivering 10 tracks of cold, unrelenting post-punk that fans of Bauhaus and Joy Division will enjoy.
Oakland’s Luis Vasquez started the band as a solo project, and Zeros marks his first time working with an engineer and producer. The result often sounds claustrophobic, though it’s also much fuller than Soft Moon’s earlier work.
Several songs wouldn’t sound out of place on the soundtrack to a slasher flick, like Crush, with its haunting moans, and the appropriately named Die Life, which features synths that buzz like a killer’s chainsaw. It’s only once the album ends that you get a chance to catch your breath and feel safe.
Top track: Crush