The Soft Pack

The Soft Pack

Though undoubtedly a smart PR move, it's disappointing that the Soft Pack changed its name from the Muslims, which seemed to fit the L.A. quartet's tongue-in-cheek don't-give-a-fuck attitude and lo-fi guitar jihad. "C'mon" kicks off the band's debut full-length with the kind of catalyzing call that births scenes, so its early R.E.M. and Lou Reed seems appropriate even as the quartet situates in SoCal punk. The riff-barrage at the end of DIY anthem "Answer to Yourself" is squalling bliss bleeding into Matt Lamkin's wail of "Yeah, I think I'm gonna die before I see my time. Try it anyway." "Move Along" and "More or Less" plug the Feelies and Modern Lovers into Television, but for all the influences that rip through the LP, the youthful abandon recasts them for a new generation. As Lamkin declares in "C'mon," "Now your town could be the next big thing." (Thu., 9:30pm, Stubb's.)