Written by Lisa Schneider
What's better than a good punk band? nothing at all. Well, maybe it's a Band that thinks and writes forward, refers to everything and relies on it, a band made up of best friends and a band that also listens to good songs from other people who enjoy good music at home. Learn about Soft play.
FM4 favorite songs
Musicians talk about the songs that changed their lives. always Sundays from 4 pm to 5 pm – With Ezra Foreman, Pepiza, Radio Porridge, Wanda, Gayle, Birdie, Phoenix, Edwin Rosen and many more.
London outpost, where SOFT PLAY played a sold-out show in November last year. There's a little kid darting around backstage, it's one of Laurie Vincent's kids, it's loud inside as the sound check is being done, and then we relax in the warm back room, orange and black and a little fern. Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent visited Electric Brixton when they were still starting out making music. Their support tour with The Prodigy has just ended, and now it's time for their headlining shows once again. There is currently only one SOFT PLAY song? not exactly. You can now find releases previously under the band name Slaves on your favorite streaming platform under a new title, so nothing is missed. Not on the show either.
If you haven't experienced a SOFT PLAY party yet, you haven't actually experienced any scratchy pits at all. The anthill and lack of inhibition, shooting at each other, squeezing your cheeks, it seems tame, but it's always meant to be cheerful. At Electric Brixton there's also the excellent feature of being able to watch the concert from the grandstand – for all those who don't have to worry about glasses, teeth or cold drinks.
Lisa Schneider/FM4
After the concert, I would love to be half-naked on stage: Isaac Holman, Laurie Vincent and their big band SOFT PLAY.
Many songs but one is the best song released in 2023. Isaac and Laurie know this, and when asked if “Punk's Dead” is the set's opener, they grinned. It is. When we read about the references above, it does not necessarily mean the history of punk rock in England, although it is clear that the soft playing was diligently sniffed out from the first minute. The main reference is the reactions of her former fans who didn't think the name change was cool. T-shirts are either returned or asked for money at all, and of course things are delivered correctly and everything is questioned. When a band positions itself politically, it always has an advantage: the riff disappears faster than you can scream “I don't like this weak shit.”
SOFT PLAY, a band that can do a lot and dare to do things that others in the genre wouldn't. Robbie Williams sings the outline of 'Punk's Dead', and again see above, there hasn't been a better musical moment in the past year. “I love you but I don't agree with it / This is bullshit / And I just wanted you to know it”: Robbie also briefly slips into the role of disappointed fan, like Isaac and Lori before him: “Snowflake, snowflake / The cherry on the woke cake.” There is sarcasm in some songs, as SOFT PLAY confirmed in her first interview on FM4 last year, but in life it is less so. They've experienced a lot, both of them, and it's supposed to be about teamwork and the good kind of it. Punk, primitive roots.
In this week's edition of FM4 Favorite Songs, we talk about how you should always meet your heroes (Jimmy T!), that NIRVANA wrote a lot of Sunday songs and SOFT PLAY wrote at least one (“That shit gets you going!”). We talk about the happy songs Lori Vincent plays at the Sunday barbecue (“I'm a good cook now”) and how Panic Shack is one of the bands that are the day after tomorrow. Finally, we talk about why Robbie Williams' music is so influential (“It was always in our family car”) and then ask the golden question: What Robbie song would SOFT PLAY cover? They lovingly give the wrong answer, but it's better if you hear it for yourself.
FM4 favorite songs
Musicians talk about the songs that changed their lives. Every Sunday from 4pm to 5pm on FM4. Here is the current broadcast:
