Hailing from San Luis Obispo in California, Soft People is the new musical project from Caleb Nichols and John Metz. The pair, who describe themselves as, “America’s Best Gay Socialist Band”, are set to release their new album, American Men, next week, and today we’re premiering their new single, Golden Age Of Television.

Golden Age Of Television is the band’s attempt to come to terms with, “a pending global disaster while half of our fellow US citizens can’t even be bothered to vote every four years”. As Caleb explains, “nobody wants to talk about a potential climate apocalypse or nuclear war because we don’t want to bum anyone (or ourselves) out…I was thinking about how many people just aren’t paying attention to anything because they are sealed-up in their little air conditioned lives, watching TV.  Meanwhile we’ve got Donald Trump, Brexit, Drone Wars, Escalating Climate Disasters… the list goes on”.

The band have suggested that Golden Age Of Television is the most eclectic song on the album, with New Order-like guitar lines and a bass the band suggest was inspired by David Bowie’s brilliant farewell, Blackstar. To our ears there are nods to the likes of Yo La Tengo or Wolf Parade in the rushing guitar lines, while the impassioned vocal has to the tone of Band Of Horses’ Ben Bridwell mixed with the theatricality of Sparks. Energetic and angry, Golden Age Of Television is less a rallying call and more a weary, accepting sigh, as Caleb concludes of the public opinion “I don’t want to bring you down but, they’ll never come around”. Soft People offer no bright solution, just the feeling that something must be done, and we all have to play our part in making that happen.

American Men is out November 7th. Click HERE for more information on Soft People.