Album Review: Life Advice

Tāmaki Makaurau’s Soft Bait have arrived with their new album that feels not just urgent – but essential. Life Advice is a ferocious, neon-lit punk record that throws punches at late-capitalist burnout, social apathy, and the absurdity of modern life. If you’ve been wondering where Aotearoa’s answer to Viagra Boys, Tropical Fuck Storm, or Yard Act is – it’s here.

But make no mistake: Soft Bait are no imitators. They’re the real deal – snarling, smart, and unashamedly Kiwi.

A sonic slap in the face (and we needed it)

There’s a strange comfort in chaos, and Life Advice delivers it in spades. The production is razor sharp – angular guitars cut through heavy, throbbing basslines, and the drums feel like they were recorded in a boxing gym. There’s a real sense of physicality here – this isn’t music to chill out to; this is music to feel in your gut.

Lead single Highly Recommend kicks things off with a searing electro-punk pulse, equal parts satire and sincere desperation. “This is living!” is barked like a battle cry, capturing the emptiness of modern life masked as self-improvement. It’s funny and frightening – a perfect tone-setter for what’s to come.

Standouts that won’t leave your head

New Leaf is a standout – easily one of the most compelling songs to come out of NZ in recent years. The vocals channel Sebastian Murphy (Viagra Boys) with eerie accuracy, but with a distinctly Aotearoa accent that makes it feel grounded and fresh. There’s a real emotional tension here: raw and direct, but never sloppy. It’s a three-minute shot of adrenaline.

TNT pulls the tempo into darker territory – a slow-burning, dissonant groove that wouldn’t be out of place on a TFS or Sonic Youth record. It smoulders and scrapes, full of uneasy energy. The guitars sound like they’re breaking apart – beautiful chaos.

Long Line is another gem. The vocal delivery here is rough and unfiltered – a kind of post-Stooges snarl, gritty but charismatic. It’s that balance of danger and cool that makes Soft Bait such a compelling force. There’s a restlessness in every beat – a refusal to play nice, or tidy up the edges.

This album doesn’t scream just for the hell of it. Beneath the distortion and sarcasm is a deep cultural frustration – a commentary on disconnection, image culture, fake wellness, climate dread, and middle-class mediocrity. It’s punk for people who’ve already read the think pieces and still want to scream.

Soft Bait taps into the Kiwi malaise with uncanny precision. You can hear the ghosts of urban decay, the smell of warm Tuis, the feeling of being stuck in a flat with mouldy curtains and overdue rent. It’s raw, real, and rooted – something too few bands are doing right now.

A refreshing punch through the noise

In a local scene often dominated by safe indie pop singing about “the summer” or “the coast line”, Life Advice is a refreshing, uncompromising blast of rage and wit. It’s the kind of record that makes you sit up straighter. The kind that will either scare you or convert you.

Soft Bait aren’t trying to be pretty – they’re trying to be honest, and that’s a hell of a lot more interesting.

Now officially part of the Flying Nun roster, their future looks bright (or at least blisteringly loud). Life Advice is out July 25th – and you’d be a fool not to dive in headfirst.