Soft Kill
One of the bands defining the sound of 2010s post-punk, Portland's Soft Kill began as standard-bearers before taking their music to anthemic heights. Grounded by the cavernous vocals and cathartic lyrics of Tobias Sinclair, over the years the band moved from the raw intimacy of 2011's An Open Door, which updated the sounds of post-punk legends like the Chameleons, the Sound, and Joy Division, to 2018's Savior, which set songs about real-life hardships to widescreen sounds inspired by U2, Tom Petty, and the Replacements.
Soft Kill formed in San Diego in 2010 as an extension of Sinclair's previous project, the gothy, lo-fi one-man band Blessure Grave. At the time, Sinclair was writing songs for Blessure Grave's second album, but their more polished, post-punk approach made him realize this was the beginning of a new group. Soft Kill's early lineup also included Shiloe Alia, Justin Gradin, and Mattey Hunter. This version of the band recorded 2011's well-received debut album, An Open Door, which was released by Nathan Howdeshell of the Gossip's Fast Weapons label.
Following An Open Door's release, Sinclair put Soft Kill on hold for a time while he dealt with some health issues. However, he continued to record demos -- which were gathered in the 2013 collection Circle of Trees -- and the band re-emerged in Portland in 2014. This incarnation of Soft Kill featured guitarist Conrad Vollmer, a longtime friend Sinclair met in the early 2000s; keyboardist/bassist Owen Glendower; and drummer Maximillion Avila, who also played with Antioch Arrow, Atriarch, and Chromatics. The band's second album, 2015's Heresy, consisted mainly of Sinclair's songs but also featured a few collaborative tracks, an approach Soft Kill expanded on with the following year's Choke. The band's debut for the largely metal-focused label Profound Lore, Choke was mixed by Uniform's Ben Greenberg and boasted wide-ranging influences as well as a collaboration with the Chameleons' Mark Burgess.
In October 2017, Soft Kill paid tribute to Tom Petty shortly after his death by covering his 1981 song "Insider." Petty's influence also made itself known on the band's cathartic fourth album, Savior. A set of songs written when Sinclair's wife nearly died giving birth and their baby son spent weeks in an intensive care unit, the album also drew on the sounds of U2 and the Replacements and introduced drummer Adam Bulgasem. Recorded at Los Angeles' Kingsize Studios with Greenberg producing, Savior was released in May 2018.
© Heather Phares /TiVo
Discography
32 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Choke
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 4 Nov 2016
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Dead Kids R.I.P. City
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cercle Social Records on 20 Nov 2020
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Escape Forever
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 12 Apr 2024
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
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In The Town Where I Was Born
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 27 Jun 2024
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Metta World Peace
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 5 Jun 2023
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Canary Yellow
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 31 Oct 2022
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Savior
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 11 May 2018
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Roseland
Alternative & Indie - Released by Born Losers Records on 3 Sep 2024
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
The Line (feat. Ruth Radelet)
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 14 Oct 2022
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Come Hang From The Roof Tops
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 29 Feb 2024
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Dead Kids Demos
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 13 Aug 2021
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Circle of Trees
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records CSR016 on 1 Feb 2013
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Saint (feat. Choir Boy)
Rock - Released by Cercle Social Records CSR016 on 12 Apr 2019
Available in24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Floodgate (Single)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cercle Social Records on 28 Oct 2020
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Always Running
Rock - Released by Cercle Social Records on 8 Jul 2022
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Another Nightmare
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 15 Feb 2023
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Press Play
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 8 Apr 2022
Available in24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo -
Cicero
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 20 Sep 2021
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo -
Englewood
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 15 Mar 2024
Available in24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo -
Veil of Pain (feat. N8NOFACE)
Punk / New Wave - Released by Cercle Social Records on 29 May 2023
Available in16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo