Soft Kill, the post-punk project led by singer, guitarist and songwriter Tobias Grave, released a new album called Rap & Bullshit on October 2. It is seven songs long, it runs about 38 minutes, and it came out on Lamer World, the band's own imprint, with vinyl and cassette sold straight from the Soft Kill store. The title reads like a joke, but the band's own notes make it sound like a statement of intent.
Who Soft Kill are
The band's Bandcamp page sums up its history in one line: formed in 2010, Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago. The 2016 album Choke and 2018's Savior both came out on Profound Lore Records, and later albums such as 2020's Dead Kids R.I.P. City and 2024's Escape Forever went through Cercle Social Records. The move shows up in the credits: Metta World Peace was recorded partly at 705 in Portland, Oregon, and partly at Nothing Normal in Chicago, and the band now lists Chicago as home.
What the new record is going for
The clearest guide is how the band describes it. On Bandcamp, Soft Kill calls the album "proof of new life" after last year's Watch It Burn, and says the seven songs "could be playfully described as the dark side of 2023's 'Metta World Peace.'" That points straight at the turn the title promises. In the notes for Metta World Peace, Grave wrote that the main production approach was cut-and-paste sampling of his favorite hip-hop albums, mixed with loose collaborations with artists he loves. That record featured guest vocals from Evil Pimp and N8NOFACE.
So this is not a straight rap album from a post-punk band. It is a post-punk songwriter who has been folding hip-hop production into his songs since at least Metta World Peace, now taking that idea somewhere darker. A song called "Running Down The Dub" hints that dub is in the mix as well. The longest song, "I Kept You Here," runs past ten minutes, which tells you the record is willing to stretch out and sit in a mood rather than rush to a chorus.
The credits are short. Tobias Francis, the name Grave is credited under here, recorded it, Natasha and Tobias Francis produced it, and Sanford Parker mixed it, a name the band points to for his work with Darkthrone, EyeHateGod and Leviathan. The band says it was recorded almost entirely at home.
The tracklist
- The Culling
- Blind
- Dark Alley Thug
- Running Down The Dub
- I Kept You Here
- Columbine
- My Way
"Dark Alley Thug" arrived first as a single on September 11, followed by "The Culling" on September 25, a week before the full album.
How to get it
The album is streaming on Spotify and Apple Music, and the best way to back the band is buying direct on Bandcamp. The first vinyl pressing on clear vinyl has already sold out. A second pressing of 200 copies on highlighter yellow vinyl ships in late October, and a cassette is limited to 100 copies. Grave is also putting Choke out as a 10th anniversary double LP with the album plus a full disc of demos, the first time those demos have been on vinyl.
If you want to go back further, the Profound Lore pressing of Choke on vinyl is still around, and so is the 2015 Heresy EP on vinyl. For the roots of this sound, start with our Factory Records starter guide. For the hip-hop side of the story, our Stones Throw starter guide is a good next listen, and our gifts for vinyl collectors covers the rest of the shelf.
Soft Kill on Bandcamp · Official store · Spotify · Apple Music
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