Available on: Heavenly 7″

It’s easy to see why Kim Deal selected San Diegan quartet The Soft Pack to perform at the Breeders-curated ATP festival earlier this year. Since recording a groundbreaking body of work with The Pixies during the late 80s, Deal has been notable for her resistance to some of the more progressive, arguably liberating trends in contemporary music, (See her “Monkey butt, monkey butt, cha cha cha” quote in Ally Carnwath’s Guardian interview.

The Soft Pack plough the same musical furrow as innumerable post-grunge alternative rock groups. Their songs are short, sharp and melodic, and clearly appeal to Ms. Deal’s somewhat regressive college rock sensibilities. ‘Answer to Yourself’ doesn’t offer anything new, but The Soft Pack probably don’t need Kim Deal, or anyone else, to tell them that.

Colin McKean