Soft Kill - Dead Kids R.I.P. City

Soft Kill
Dead Kids R.I.P. City
(2x Crack Cloud Vinyl)
Release: 2021

Track Listing:

1. Roses All Around
2. Wanting War
3. Matty Rue
4. Floodgate
5. Crimey
6. Pretty Face
7. Ducky
8. Inverness
9. Oil Burner
10. I Needed The Pain

More Info: 
Dead Kids, R.I.P. City stands as a poignant, widescreen high-water mark for Portland post-punk outfit Soft Kill. Produced by David Trumfio (Built to Spill, Wilco), the album transcends standard coldwave tropes by injecting vibrant, bittersweet indie rock urgency and classic 1980s pop hooks directly into its moody goth foundations. The sonic palette is anchored by prominent, melodic basslines treated with chorus pedals, sparkling 12-string guitar arpeggios reminiscent of The Cure and The Chameleons, driving drum-machine-tight acoustic kit work, and lush, cinematic synth pads. Front man Tobias Grave delivers a deeply vulnerable, world-weary vocal performance, reckoning with addiction, trauma, and the ghosts of lost friends across Portland's underground. Standout tracks like "Roses All Around," "Whirl," and "Pretty Face" balance bright, anthemic melancholy with heavy emotional gravitas, creating an album that sounds like driving through rain-slicked city streets at 3 AM wrapped in memories of regret, survival, and hard-earned hope.