Soft Science sounds perilously like one of those fuzzy, nonsensical corporate phrases I abhor so - like Blue Sky Thinking, Wet Signatures, Soft Knowledge... but equally, and more positively, it makes me think of William Burroughs' book 'The Soft Machine', composed using the cut-up method, a mode of writing he would pursue with an almost scientific rigour over the course of a decade. A spot of research reveals that it is, in actual fact, it's a (rather derogatory) term for social sciences. Ooh, you got an 'ology'?
In the event, the music doesn't really correspond with the application of analogue technologies in a clinical, precise fashion that the band's name may be taken to imply, and nor did I detect any references to Marx or Talcott Parsons. Instead, Soft Science serve up sweet indie pop with shoegaze elements and occasional sweeps of feedback and noise that compliment - and contrast with - the airy female vocals rather nicely.
If there are moments where they sound like Slowdive with a smaller back of effects, there are equally hints of vintage indie acts like The Primitives, especially on the janglier numbers like 'Put Your Arms Around Me', and elsewhere, they remould the sounds of the Jesus & Mary Chain's 'Just Like Honey' into gently rippling, delicately poised pop gems.
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As the title suggests, there are lows as well as highs, notably the weak and watery, nondescript 'It's Right' that's simply insipid. Still, it's a far from disappointing debut, and it doesn't outstay its welcome. It; might not be an example of pop,perfection, but 'Highs and Lows' makes a pretty good stab. A flawed masterpiece.
Soft Science Online
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