Soft Play – ‘Heavy Jelly’ album review: the duo’s long-awaited return
THE SKINNY: Back in the 2010s, Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent – then operating under the name Slaves – were among the most exciting and energetic young punk groups in the United Kingdom. Making a name for themselves with raucous live performances, witty lyricism, and a sense of community among fans, the group helped to breathe new life into a punk scene that was growing tiresome. So, when the pair reunited in 2022 and rebranded themselves as Soft Play, expectations were high, and the accusations of ‘punk gone woke’ were rife.
With Heavy Jelly, the duo’s first record following the rebrand, Holman and Vincent had the opportunity to forever silence their critics, moving the conversation away from name changes to focus entirely on great music. Unfortunately, the album often feels flawed and unimaginative. There is a distinct lack of variety in sound within the tracklisting, which makes the endless assault of distorted guitars and hi-hat-less drums blend into a nondescript wall of sound after a handful of tracks. The few songs which hint at a development in the band’s sound, like ‘Everything and Nothing’, for instance, form the highlights of the record, but they are disappointingly few and far between.
The exact audience for Heavy Jelly seems to be shrouded in some mystery, too. Since their formation, Soft Play have appealed to a wide variety of listeners, but the music on this album – more often than not – seems to position itself towards hyper-masculine meatheads. On tracks like ‘Mirror Muscles’, these connotations are played for laughs, but it is easy to see how the music will be co-opted by the very people it claims to mock. Praise has been heaped on Soft Play for their excellent performance at Glastonbury this year, but I was at that set, and there were more than a few coked-up muscle men making the experience uncomfortable for many attendees.
Of course, an artist cannot control who listens to their music, but with Heavy Jelly, Soft Play seem to have tailored themselves specifically towards that demographic. It culminates in an overarching feeling of the album being rushed, which seems ludicrous given that it has been two years since the duo reformed. The order of tracks, for instance, feels somewhat thrown together without much thought; if we’re being honest, ‘Punk’s Dead’ should have remained a standalone single, as it does not fit within this record, while ‘Everything and Nothing’ feels as though it was tacked onto the end during the latter stages of production.
For fans of: Craft beer, patchwork tattoos, and snorting protein powder from an original copy of a Crass album, which you don’t fully understand.
A concluding comment from Ben’s mum: “I liked the bit at the start where they played ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’, after that it was just noise.”
Heavy Jelly track by track:
Release date: July 19th | Producer: Jolyon Thomas | Label: BMG
‘All Things’: A fitting introduction to this new era of Soft Play, ‘All Things’ blends the energy of their earlier material with new musical influences and some characteristically good guitar tones from Vincent. [3/5]
‘Punk’s Dead’: Obviously a stand-out from the album, denouncing the state of modern punk rock and challenging those ‘fans’ who lashed out at the band’s name change. Its driving energy and rebellious spirit are dangerously infectious, and the Robbie Williams feature tops it off nicely. [3.5/5]
‘Act Violently’: The beginning of this track sounds like a poor imitation of ‘Chop Suey!’ by System of a Down, and it only goes downhill from there. This is also a song that macho meatheads at punk gigs will definitely co-opt as a reason to make other attendees’ experiences miserable. [1.5/5]
‘Isaac Is Typing…’: Part of what made the early period of Soft Play, then Slaves, so appealing was the sonic variety of records like Are You Satisfied?, but thus far, Heavy Jelly seems to be very one-note. [2/5]
‘Bin Juice Disaster’: The kind of story-telling songwriting that has previously produced some of Holman’s greatest efforts – including ‘Where’s Your Car Debbie?’ and ‘Girl Fight’. Musically, once again, it is very similar to basically every track on the rest of the record. [2.5/5]
‘Worms On Tarmac’: Musically, this is perhaps the closest Soft Play get to the sound of their earlier work on this album. However, the lyrics give the impression that Holman has spent the intervening years stuck on a desert island with nothing but a rhyming dictionary. [2.5/5]
‘John Wick’: Variety is incredibly important for every album because, without it, the listening experience can become somewhat repetitive and boring; this song is distressingly similar to the previous. [1.5/5]
‘Mirror Muscles’: It is unclear whether this track is mocking gym-obsessed meatheads or not, but the endlessly macho sound and surface-level lyricism means it will likely appeal to that sect of Soft Play’s audience regardless of intent. [1/5]
‘Working Title’: Heavy Jelly has not been Holman’s greatest collection of lyrics, but this track is a particular low point. The recurring line “Champagne lifestyle, lemonade money” is particularly cringeworthy. [1/5]
‘The Mushroom and The Swan’: This adrenaline-fueled, old-school-meets-new Soft Play track is a breath of fresh air following the run of mediocre tracks that preceded it on this album. Why it is buried so low in the tracklisting is beyond me. [3.5/5]
‘Everything and Nothing’: A new sound for Soft Play, the closing track is refreshingly honest and vulnerable, though it seems to have been tacked on to the end of the album without much thought. Hopefully, the band will continue to expand upon this sound in the future. [3/5]
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