Pill is a busy band. Their debut EP was released only three years ago, but since then they’ve poured out an additional two albums and an EP, culminating with Soft Hell, their best release to date. Being one of the few bands to solidly and successfully work a horn as a major aspect of their sound, they stand solidly outside of the obvious parts-comparison of bands like Morphine, and instead stride into something channeling swagger and noise, a riveting embrace of the dark in analyzing a modern life.
“Soft Hell”, is Pill’s second full-length album, is a raucous, splintering dispatch from New York City, animated by the madcap ingenuity of a foursome finding a palpable sense of joy and play in expressions of caustic, black humor. Like the contradiction of the album title, which references our acceptance of everyday miseries, it’s a slew of dichotomies, a frenzied cutup. It’s bleeding saxophone and lustrous feedback sounding somehow pastoral, and winking hooks subtly infused with venom.
released October 26, 2018
The Fat Angel Sings 