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Review: Fail Sons – “Soft Spot”

by

Bloated Kat Records, May 1, 2020

Fail Sons brings some high energy to their debut EP

Fail Sons are a 4-piece out of Washington D.C..  They’ve got a sort of fast-paced pop punk thing à la a bunch of the 90’s-era Fat Wreck bands, and they add in some shredding guitar leads here and there (I suppose maybe the Thin Lizzy influence that they mention).  Soft Spot is the first proper release following last year’s demo.

Over the course of four songs, Soft Spot gets us lots of hooks and pop set to some buzzsaw guitars.  Each of the songs brings some goodness that worms into your brain.  My favorite melodies on the record come on the first one, “No One’s Really Brokenhearted”, a fast sort of song with desperately catchy vocals, some great guitar lead, and clattering loose hi-hats.  I like it, but some of the words don’t hit squarely.  Elsewhere, both “Elsie” and “Day Dream” have their moments.  “Elsie” has a guitar melody that won’t quit, but the vocal melodies don’t sink in quite the same as “Brokenhearted”. Still, with lines like “how could you even notice me, in such a sea of creeps”, I’m a fan.  “Day Dream” is a sort of melodic blast with some choice “I don’t wanna” lyrics, topped with a bit of cool guitar shredding. And at just barely over a minute, it fits my attention span well. Maybe my favorite song on here.  The last one, “Bristol Channel”, is pretty mid-tempo for Fail Sons.  It’s got an infectious melody and word delivery, but like “Brokenhearted”, the words don’t really land for me. And at nearly four minutes, it tests my concentration.    

All in all, Soft Spot is a pretty good nine minutes.  The energy is palpable and the hooks are typically pretty strong.  It’s a solid first release and foreshadows a good and better Fail Sons future.      

You might like this if:

  • You like good energy and tight playing without the rigidness of some skatepunk
  • You like good hooks, desperate-cool vocals, and tasty guitar shredding

You might not if:

  • You’re not into the fast pop-punk thing
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