Soft Kill at Dusk, Sep 17

Ever since the dawn of the 21st Century, the post-punk style has experienced a revival in two different decades. In the 2000s, bands affiliated with the genre had more of a pop æsthetic and were on a mission to make people dance. These days in the 2010s, most acts are delving into darker and distorted tones more reminiscent of pioneers Joy Division and The Cure. Soft Kill from Portland, OR, have risen as one of the new premier acts of post-punk, and they’re coming to rock Dusk in PVD Sep 17 for a one-off show away from their current tour with English legends Chameleons Vox. They’re also headlining a stacked bill with locals Beta Motel, Way Out, and Civility joining in on the fray.

The band’s latest product was Texas Killing Fields 7-inch on Feb 15. It was released in an interesting way with only 300 copies available. “We had just done our first tour without a drummer and weren’t ecstatic about how it went, so getting into the basement and writing some new songs seemed like a redeeming act within that block of time,” singer and guitarist Tobias Sinclair says on how the record was created. “We decided to throw the two songs on a 7-inch because we bounce between being extremely calculated and thought-out and totally nonsensical and self-sabotaging, with the latter being this unnecessary 7-inch of two songs we really dig.”

“I produced it at our state-of-the-art studio,” Sinclair explains. “By all that I mean we recorded it with a shitty interface in Conrad [Vollmer]’s basement on a whim and didn’t correct any mistakes out of total laziness.”

As far as the band’s current tour with Chameleons Vox goes, Sinclair states: “This run has been very stressful for non-Soft Kill-related reasons which has made it hard to really connect with how we feel about these gigs. Oakland was my favorite stop so far, and the crowds have been really showing love. It came about because Chameleons Vox foolishly said yes to touring with us in 2015 and they’ve been stuck with us ever since.”

Saturday, Sep 17, promises to be a wild night at one of the best venues in the city. It has a chance of selling out so make sure you show up early. You won’t want to miss a moment.

Facebook: facebook.com/softkillportland

Event page: facebook.com/events/1699145077061771

Stream Texas Killing Fields 7-inch from Soft Kill on Bandcamp: anopendoor.bandcamp.com/album/texas-killing-fields-7