Softcult | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | |
Years active | 2020–present |
Labels | Easy Life |
Spinoff of | Courage My Love |
Members |
|
Website | softcult |
Softcult is a Canadian grunge duo consisting of twin siblings Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn. [nb 1] The duo are known for their melding of grunge with shoegaze, as well as their DIY and riot grrrl-inspired ethics. The band's most recent EP, See You in the Dark , was released on March 24, 2023.
Twin siblings Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn (born 1994) [2] grew up in Toronto, Ontario, and were home-schooled by their mother, an English teacher. [3] Prior to forming Softcult, the Arn-Horn siblings were members of the pop-punk band Courage My Love, which released several EPs and two studio albums throughout the 2010s. [4] [5] Feeling creatively stifled by their record label, the Arn-Horn siblings decided to disband Courage My Love and begin a new project together in the summer of 2020. [3] [6] The band chose the name "Softcult", which Mercedes Arn-Horn defined as "anything that you don’t really question where you follow your group of people", to represent the band's "social commentary". [7] The band's debut single, "Another Bish", was released on January 15, 2021. [8] [9]
On April 16, 2021, Softcult released their first EP, Year of the Rat , through Easy Life Records. [7] [10] [11] The duo's second EP, Year of the Snake, "encompasses our feelings towards the cutthroat capitalist society we live in and the problems that need to be addressed". [12] [13] One of the EP's songs, "B.W.B.B.", was written in response to the murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021. [13] Their third EP, See You in the Dark , was released on March 24, 2023, and was inspired by My Bloody Valentine and the Cocteau Twins. [6] [14] [15] The EP received a Juno Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year award at the Juno Awards of 2024. [16] [17] On May 24, 2024, the band will release their fourth EP, Heaven . [18]
Softcult have been described as grunge, [19] alternative rock, [20] lo-fi [2] and shoegaze. [4] The Arn-Horn siblings were inspired by the 1990s riot grrrl culture, and have cited Bikini Kill, Bratmobile and Pussy Riot as formative influences on the band. [7] [21] Additionally, Softcult publishes a monthly zine, SCripture, first published in February 2021, which discusses environmental, social and political issues. [22] [23]
Title | Details |
---|---|
Zodiac EPs | |
Dark Zodiac |
Title | Details |
---|---|
Softcult on Audiotree Live |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Year of the Rat |
|
Year of the Snake |
|
See You in the Dark |
|
Heaven |
|
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Another Bish" | 2021 | Year of the Rat |
"Gloomy Girl" | ||
"Spit it Out" | Year of the Snake | |
"House of Mirrors" | ||
"BWBB" | ||
"Perfect Blue" | ||
"Gaslight" | 2022 | |
"Uzumaki" | ||
"Been a Son" | Non-album single | |
"Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" | ||
"One of a Million | See You in the Dark | |
"Drain" | ||
"Someone2Me" | ||
"Dress" | 2023 | |
"Love Song" | ||
"Spoiled" | ||
"Haunt You Still" [33] | Heaven | |
"Heaven" | ||
"Shortest Fuse" [34] | 2024 | |
"Spiralling Out" | ||
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of Deryck Whibley, Dave "Brownsound" Baksh, Jason "Cone" McCaslin, Tom Thacker, and Frank Zummo.
Kerrang! is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd. The magazine was named onomatopoeically after the sound of a "guitar being struck with force".
Creeper are an English rock band from Southampton. Formed in 2014, the group originally featured vocalist Will Gould, guitarists Ian Miles and Sina Nemati, bassist Sean Scott, and drummer Dan Bratton. The band independently released their self-titled debut EP in 2014, before signing with Roadrunner Records and issuing follow-up The Callous Heart the next year. At the end of 2015, Nemati was replaced by Oliver Burdett and touring keyboardist/second vocalist Hannah Greenwood became an official band member. A third EP, The Stranger, was released in 2016 and reached the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart top ten.
Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band originated from Chicago's hardcore punk scene and was formed by Wentz and Trohman as a pop-punk side project; Stump joined shortly thereafter. The group went through a succession of drummers before Hurley joined. Their debut album, Take This to Your Grave (2003), became an underground success and helped the band gain a dedicated fanbase through heavy touring. Take This to Your Grave is cited as influential on pop-punk music in the 2000s.
You Me at Six are an English rock band from Weybridge, Surrey. The band consists of lead singer Josh Franceschi, guitarists Max Helyer and Chris Miller, bassist Matt Barnes and drummer Daniel Flint. Formed in 2004, the name for the group originated as an abbreviation for the group making Friday night plans after a concert. The band has released eight studio albums and one live album.
Arkells is a Canadian rock band, formed in Hamilton, Ontario. In 2006, they signed with Dine Alone Records, and have since signed with Universal Records Canada and Last Gang Records. They have released eight albums: Jackson Square (2008), Michigan Left (2011), High Noon (2014), Morning Report (2016), Rally Cry (2018), Blink Once (2021), Blink Twice (2022) and Laundry Pile (2023). The band has been nominated for over 15 Juno Awards; winning Rock Album of the Year for High Noon and Rally Cry, and six times for Group of the Year.
Courage My Love was a Canadian rock band from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Formed in 2009 the band consisted of twin siblings Mercedes Arn-Horn and Phoenix Arn-Horn in addition to bassist Brandon Lockwood.
Mercedes Arn-Horn is a Canadian musician, songwriter, director and actor. She is the lead singer and guitarist of Canadian rock band Softcult, and was formerly the lead singer, guitarist and keyboardist of the Canadian rock band Courage My Love.
PUP is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 2010, originally under the name Topanga. PUP's debut album PUP was released on October 8, 2013, on Royal Mountain Records. In December 2013, PUP signed with SideOneDummy Records and re-released their debut album in the United States on April 8, 2014. The group was in the studio in late 2015 recording their second album The Dream Is Over which was released on May 27, 2016, through SideOneDummy. The band's third album, titled Morbid Stuff, was released on April 5, 2019. This Place Sucks Ass, a six-track EP, was released on October 27, 2020. Their fourth album, The Unraveling of PUPTheBand, was released on April 1, 2022.
Charly Bliss are an American power pop band from Brooklyn, New York, who formed in 2011. The band's line-up is composed of siblings Eva and Sam (drums) Hendricks, lead guitarist Spencer Fox, and bassist Dan Shure. To date, the band have released two studio albums, Guppy (2017) and Young Enough (2019).
Moriah Rose Pereira, known professionally as Poppy and formerly as That Poppy, is an American singer, songwriter, YouTuber, and model. She first earned recognition for starring in surreal performance art videos on YouTube as an uncanny valley-like android who commented on and satirized internet culture and modern society. This led to the release of a pilot for the proposed 2018 surreal comedy online series I'm Poppy on YouTube Premium.
The discography of Creeper, an English rock band, consists of three studio albums, six extended plays (EPs), 20 singles, 24 music videos and three other appearances. Formed in Southampton by vocalist Will Gould, guitarists Ian Miles and Sina Nemati, bassist Sean Scott and drummer Dan Bratton, Creeper independently released their self-titled debut EP in June 2014. After signing with Roadrunner Records, the band released their second EP The Callous Heart in September 2015.
Idles are a British rock band formed in Bristol in 2009. The band consists of Adam Devonshire (bass), Joe Talbot (vocals), Mark Bowen (guitar), Lee Kiernan (guitar), and Jon Beavis (drums).
NewDad are a rock band from Galway, Ireland, formed in 2018. Their music has been compared to The Cure, Beabadoobee, and Just Mustard by NME magazine. Atwood Magazine wrote of the group: "The band oozes personality with cynical but honest lyrics, colorful visual components, and poignant messages about coping with the, albeit painful, formative experiences." The group have appeared at the Green Man Festival in Wales, the Pitchfork Music Festival in Paris, and on the Irish television program Other Voices.
Oblivion! is the fifth extended play by British indie rock band Sundara Karma. The EP was released on 1 April 2022 through Chess Club Records. It is the band's second EP that was produced by Clarence Clarity, after the first being their 2020 EP, Kill Me.
Cheekface is an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2017, the group consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Greg Katz, bassist and backup vocalist Amanda Tannen, and drummer Mark Edwards. Cheekface has released four studio albums, two EPs, and one live album, all on Katz's own label, New Professor Music.
See You in the Dark is the third extended play by Canadian grunge duo Softcult, released on March 24, 2023 through Easy Life Records. It was recorded in 2022 between their tours that year, and consists of material that was left off the duo's previous EP, Year of the Snake (2022). Although still containing elements of grunge, See You in the Dark is less musically heavy than the duo's prior output, with its more atmospheric sound being based in shoegaze and pop. As with most of Softcult's work, the EP's lyrics touch on a variety of personal and political subject matters, including toxic masculinity, trauma and insecurities.
Year of the Rat is the debut extended play by Canadian grunge duo Softcult, released on April 16, 2021, through Easy Life Records.
Heaven is the upcoming fourth extended play by Canadian grunge duo Softcult. It is scheduled to be released on May 24, 2024, through Easy Life Records.
Finding inspiration in artists such as Kurt Cobain, who passed away the year the twins were born...