Heartbreaking Bravery

Editor’s Note: There’s been a month-long gap in coverage, thanks to near-incessant travel and other extenuating circumstances. The following run of posts that contain this note will be posts that should have appeared sometime within the past several weeks. Use these posts as an opportunity to catch up to the present release cycle or to simply discover some new music. Either way, enjoy.

During the approximate two and a half years of its existence, this site’s afforded me a few unexpected introductions to new bands that have managed to impress on a deep level. Mulligrub were one of the first bands to make that kind of statement. Since that initial introduction, the trio’s put a lot of effort into perfecting their craft and, lately, they’ve been revealing the positive results.

After revealing the centerpiece of their debut full-length, the two-song suite of “Homo Milk” and “Man in the Moon”, both secured a position on this site’s 50 Best Songs of 2016‘s First Quarter list. With the bookends also having already received attention in these pages, the band had already compiled half of what promised to be an extraordinary record. Now Soft Grudge has arrived and its carried through on that promise.

Opening with a strengthened take on “Canadian Classic”, which remains an adrenaline-inducing firecracker of a song, the band sets out at a sprint on a breathless course and never stops running. The trio’s brand of bittersweet basement pop makes them a kindred spirit to acts like Radiator Hospital, Grubs, and Jawbreaker Reunion. Blending tongue-in-cheek humor with open honesty and youthful vigor, Soft Grudge should resonate with a very large group of people- all they need to do is listen.    

Listen to Soft Grudge below and pick up the record from the band here.