Softjaw – Love Can’t Kill You

There’s nothing especially cryptic about Softjaw. The Long Beach, California band wear their influences loudly and proudly, so it makes perfect sense that singer/lead guitarist Tanner Duffy’s Big Star t-shirt played a leading role in their origin story.

But the Memphis power pop legends aren’t the only clear reference point on Softjaw’s ebullient Love Can’t Kill You. Where other contemporary bands like Lemon Twigs or Uni Boys take their cues from a clearly defined era, Softjaw cover ground from Beatles-esque ’60s-inspired tunes all the way through to the 2000s power pop of, say, Exploding Hearts. In between, there are nods to Cheap Trick, The Quick, Teenage Fanclub, The Raspberries, Sloan (“You Won’t See Me Cry”), and, of course, The Nerves.

As a power pop aficionado, it’s great fun playing spot the influence, but Softjaw’s enviable grasp of quality control elevates Love Can’t Kill You above most bands operating in what is becoming a crowded sphere. I enjoy the nostalgic sound of Uni Boys, for example, but they’ve never assembled a record as sharply written as Love Can’t Kill You. While Sharp Pins and The Lemon Twigs have, their range is narrower.

There’s an argument to be made that no one is drawing from five decades of power pop quite as effectively as Softjaw, and it’s one I’d support—but I can also understand why a more sceptical listener might prefer the Long Beach band adopt a more focused approach. While Love Can’t Kill You never quite drifts into pastiche territory, opening track “You May Be Right” probably comes closest with frenetic ’70s rock embellishments that are oddly unrepresentative of the album as a whole. I don’t mind it, but it certainly makes for an odd opener.

The rest of Love Can’t Kill You plays a little like a Best of Power Pop compilation, with classic chord changes, effective harmonies, and hooks in all the right places. While power pop agnostics might find it a little saccharine for their tastes, genre enthusiasts will surely struggle to find a more satisfying 32 minutes of new music this year.

Love Can’t Kill You is out now via Dandy Boy Records.