Los Angeles – While The Soft Moon have previously released a pair of solid LPs since their founding in 2009, this year’s Deeper has found the Oakland-based post-punk band reaching ever larger audiences. This increased level of underground popularity was quite evident as the Luis Vasquez-led trio powered through a captivating set in front of a large all-ages crowd at West Hollywood’s The Roxy Theater. Vasquez rotated through a number of instruments throughout the hour-long set, from guitar to synthesizer and even taking a turn on some unorthodox percussion instruments on “Wrong.”
While on their first two full-length releases, The Soft Moon showcased a dissonant and discordant sound with dark lyrical themes, powered by a steady motorik rhythm. While Deeper is far from a drastic departure from that sound, it does contain some tracks that veer closer to a more accessible, mainstream sound. Despite attracting a newer, younger and slightly more diverse audience to their show at The Roxy, most of those in attendance still showed a proclivity for all-black clothing and goth-inspired haircuts. This was the band’s first show in California in nearly two years, and it seemed they were happy to be back in their home state – Vasquez’s mom was even in attendance for the show.
The Soft Moon has garnered a reputation for blending an impressive visual light show with their aggressive and emotional music, and Thursday night’s performance was no exception. With an ominous, post-apocalyptic backing track emanating from the stage as The Roxy’s stage curtains pulled back, each member of the band took the stage, powering through the raw first single from Deeper, “Black.” While the album track itself is a heavy and highly emotional cut, Vasquez gave the song added depth with his passionate screams and magnetic stage presence. Just as it was the perfect opener for the album, it served as the perfect track to kick off an intense and emotional set.
While the band’s more long-standing fans were most excited for songs from both their newest release as well as their first two LPs, The Soft Moon and Zeros, many of their new fans specifically came out to hear the band perform their biggest single to date, “Far.” On Deeper, the song has polished production techniques and flirtations with mainstream rock; a sound that clearly attracted a heavier subset of the KROQ crowd. However in a live setting the band took “Far” into more exhilarating territory – instead of sticking to the driving, mid-tempo industrial sound heard on the recorded version, Vasquez dialed up the vocal intensity and guitars, taking the song to more decidedly more punk rock territory.
While the band touched on some of their earlier material, the majority of the set was culled from Deeper. For “Wrong,” Vasquez pulled out a beaten-up garbage can to provide some raw percussion work to the danceable, EBM-inspired track. With a disembodied voice providing an eerie electronic backing track before giving way to laser-esque blasts of sound, Vasquez and company pounded through the song under the cover of epileptic seizure-inducing strobe lights.
After finishing up their United States tour with a handful of May dates throughout the Southwest, The Soft Moon will head abroad. They have dates in France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, and Finland.
Check The Soft Moon website for information on tickets.
Matt Matasci
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