Dark post-punk band Soft Moon plays homecoming show at the Independent
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Acclaimed post-punk outfit the Soft Moon led by former Bay Area resident Luis Vasquez brings its droning, synth-powered sounds back home for this show at the Independent in San Francisco Saturday.
Started by Bay Area musician Luis Vasquez when he was still playing with noted local neo-psych band Lumerians, the home-recording project that evolved into the Soft Moon was initially intended only for Vasquez and a few friends. Instead, the multi-instrumentalist reached a global audience with the bleak, hypnotic sounds of the act's self-titled 2010 debut, establishing a fan base that has only grown with each subsequent release.
Offering up a pulsing, synthesizer-driven sound that mixed driving Krautrock rhythms with the post-punk angst of Suicide and Bauhaus as well as touches of modern dark-wave influences, The Soft Moon earned rave notices from fans and critics on both sides of the Atlantic. While the debut was recorded with Vasquez playing every instrument, he would assemble a live band to recreate his songs onstage.
The Soft Moon toured extensively, delivering a stark presentation of the music that at first was powered by just a drum machine and accompanied by nearly seizure-inducing projections. Vasquez recorded the follow-up Total Decay EP before his proper sophomore effort Zeroes in 2012 took the Soft Moon sound into even darker, more claustrophobic territory. A new live line-up of the band become a popular live attraction in Europe with continued touring on the continent.
Vasquez took his time with the next Soft Moon effort, assembling songs after decamping from Oakland and moving to the mountains outside of Venice in Italy to record with producer Maurizio Baggio. The resultant album Deeper came out in late March of 2015 and was hailed by some as the most compelling Soft Moon effort Vasquez has produced yet, matching some of his bleakest soundscapes yet with beguiling melodies.
Two years ago, the Soft Moon was slated to return to the United States for an extensive tour supporting iconic British post-punk band Killing Joke, but health issues with one of the headliner's members led to a cancellation. Instead, Vasquez decided to embark on a headlining tour of his own, delivering his intense, strobe-light heavy live show to fans across the country.
On the Soft Moon's fourth album Criminal (and his first for noted indie label Sacred Bones in 2018), Vasquez conjured up a sound that is perhaps even more desperate, channeling elements of classic Gary Numan (album opener "Burn" strongly echoes Numan's hit single "Berserker") and Pretty Hate Machine-era Nine Inch Nails. That effort was followed by a pair of EPs featuring remixes of those songs by such noted artists as Imperial Black Unit, Sarin and the Horrorist.
Vasquez would go quiet for several years before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, but eventually resurfaced in 2021 with the largely instrumental album A Body of Errors released under his own name and drawing inspiration from the soundtrack work of Goblin, John Carpenter and Nine Inch Nails principle Trent Reznor. The album again found Vasquez working with engineer Baggio, recording in a variety of locals including Berlin, Havana, Fougères in northwestern France, Southern California (in Los Angeles and his new home in Joshua Tree) and Tijuana in addition to Baggio's home base in Italy.
This fall, the musician released his first new album as the Soft Moon in four years with Exister. The recording pushes further into the industrial sounds Vasquez has explored since Deeper, while the songs if anything reveal a broader vocal palette as he continues to try to exorcise his personal demons. The album also is the first to feature guest collaborators with vocals from fish narc and singer Alli Logout of incendiary New Orleans punk band Special Interest. The current live line-up of the band returns to the Bay Area Saturday to play fan favorites and songs from the latest record at the Independent in San Francisco, sharing the stage with Italian/American dark-wave/synth-pop trio Nuovo Testamento.
The Soft Moon with Nuovo Testamento
Saturday, Nov. 26, 8:30 p.m. $23-$25
The Independent
