Soft is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

History

Soft formed in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 2003, but the group did not begin performing live until more than a year afterwards; for this reason, they were not well known on the New York music scene despite receiving critical acclaim elsewhere. Prior to forming Soft, lead singer John Reineck had previously played in a band called The Siren Six! at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

, and spent a year in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

working for a

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...

record label after college. The name "Soft" was given to the group by

Mickey Madden Michael Allen Madden (born May 13, 1979) is an American musician and a former bassist for the pop rock band Maroon 5. Life and music career Madden was born in Austin, Texas. He began playing in junior high school at the Brentwood School in L ...

from

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

, who suggested it after the group opened for one of their shows.Band of the Day:Soft

SPIN Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...

, October 22, 2007. Accessed January 2, 2008. The group also opened for such acts as

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

Phantom Planet Phantom Planet is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1994. The band consists of Alex Greenwald (vocals, rhythm guitar), Darren Robinson (lead guitar), Sam Farrar (bass guitar) and Jeff Conrad (drums). The band is best known for ...

Hot Chip Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...

, and Voxtrot.Review of ''Gone Faded''
. Cokemachineglow, December 1, 2007. Accessed January 2, 2008. After releasing several EPs and an LP in Japan, the group's debut full-length, ''Gone Faded'', was released on October 23, 2007.Review of ''Gone Faded''
.

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

, November 28, 2007. The band recorded a follow-up album in early 2008 with producer

Chris Coady Chris Coady (born June 5, 1978) is an American record producer and mixing engineer who is best known for his work with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Deadbeat Darling, Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Blonde Redhead and others. Since moving to New Y ...

which was released in 2011 as ''Dogs''.

Discography

*''Hot Club and the Smoke Machine'' (2006, Japan only release) *''Gone Faded'' (2007) *''Dogs'' (2011)

Members

*John Reineck – vocals *Vincent Perini – guitar *Sam Wheeler – guitar *Dino Siampos – bass *Chris Colley – drums

References

External links

Official websiteSoft
at MySpace {{DEFAULTSORT:Soft Musical groups from New York City Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Shoegazing musical groups