Soft Gong "Pretend You Need Me"

From Boise, Idaho comes a band that sparks excitment – Soft Gong. If Bon Jovi ever decided to start a Jellyfish inspired bar band, then it would sound like this. This band began as a team building whim for a marketing agency. The agency had some musically talented creative people and started this band together. Many songs were written by Bill Coffey and some here standout, an example being “Cover Band” with catchy choruses and consistent beats. A real winner here is also “Ninety-nine Percent” – a perfect power pop tune with great guitar riffs and a great melodic hook. “The Mirror is Lonely” is a cool 70’s styled rock tribute (more cowbell fellas!) that is easy on the ears. The band is definitely inspired by Cheap Trick as well, if you listen to “Break Me.” Unfortunately, it’s not without some weakness here. In the latter song and in a few others the backing vocals are just badly done. In some cases, the material isn’t better than your average cover band (“Night School Sweetheart”) trying a bit too hard to rock. Coffey has a great voice that can redeem most of the tracks though. It definitely is better than any other “creative group” turned rock band and worth a listen or two. They would easily blow away the competition here.

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