SOFT PLAY “Punk’s dead” | Aussie Metal Heads Reaction

[@IndieRockerHippy]

The lyric "Johnny Rotten is turning in his bed - I was gonna say grave but the fucker ain't dead" is just pure brilliance. Cannot wait for them to tour again.

[@xxillicitxx]

I know it's a year later but they're touring 2025!! Got your tickets??

[@joelymole]

That is Robbie Williams haha! The Johnny Rotten lyric is iconic. I love this band. They have a song called fuck the hi-hat in response to a reviewer who complained he doesn’t have a hi-hat on his kit. And a song called ‘girl fight’ which is simply about girls fighting over a kebab on a night out

[@jonathangray2962]

Slaves was meant in 'slaves to the system' which is a very punk way of thinking. I can understand the name change though. And it doesnt matter what they are called, its all about the talent and this band is very talented.

[@warlorddk2070]

Its more the reason they changed... When the system changes face its still the system... A fan is told he cant wear their t-shirt because he is white asking them to change... Punk is all about rebelion against the restrictive acceptance of society... So the t-shirt getting a responce of non acceptance? That shit did its job... Puck rockers never wanted acceptance they said fuck acceptance. Dont change your subculture for posers that never understood it.

[@Shawnsrumi]

As a fan of a band call star fucker sometimes you got to change the name

[@rosskane1314]

It is Robbie Williams boys 😂

[@kamratframjandet]

They should’ve done their research. Should have run it by me first.

[@laytonbergerud7890]

I think there back hurts​@@kamratframjandet

[@grantlogic]

@@laytonbergerud7890 I bet their knees hurt

[@lifeissometal]

I’m always impressed by drummers who are also main vocalists. This has big 80s Brit punk vibes.

[@aplix7882]

He isnt even a drummer lmao, they couldnt find a drummer and so he just played until they could find one, they never did 😂

[@cirrus393]

@@aplix7882He plays the drums you pillock, he's a drummer

[@paulfoot9230]

@@cirrus393 No, he never learned to play the drums, he can't play a full kit

[@cirrus393]

@@paulfoot9230 He's playing the drums. End of story. Just because it's an unusual kit doesn't mean they aren't drums 🤣

[@paulfoot9230]

@cirrus393 my point 8s he is incapable of playing a full kit. He hits a floor Tom and a snare. Yes physically he plays 2 drums and 2 cymbals, but most amateurs could do this. But a professional drummer? No.

[@XSecretMistakesX]

“How could you not tell they were British in the first five seconds?”😭😭

[@jamesbrett5200]

soft play used to be called slaves - this song is taking the piss out of the people that didn't want them to change

[@KillKenny09]

realy? I thought this song is anti-woke XD

[@anamorel2634]

​@KillKenny09 a punk band being anti woke is pretty contradictory lmao

[@KillKenny09]

@@anamorel2634 "punk" has nothing to do with left or right. "punk" is and was allways against the mainstream. This woke-bullshit is pure mainstream (at least here in germany). So how can you be "punk" and "mainstream-sheeple" at the same time? makes no sense. I never heard from this band before. Didn´t know they changed their name. Had to read the lyrics and some backstory about the "slaves ...."-stuff... Guess I will never ever listen again... "snowflake...snowflake" XD ciao

[@insertgenericusernamehere2402]

​@@KillKenny09lmao you're part of the audience they're talking about. Punk hasn't been about being anti mainstream. It's been about anti establishment. Anti government and the sad fuckers like you who get upset about the name change is hilarious.

[@hannahmachin8517]

@@KillKenny09It’s not that the song is ‘anti-woke’, they’re just taking the piss out of people who got upset with their name change and called THEM woke by singing in the perspective of those fans- “I don’t like change” “why can’t you just stay the same” etc

[@matthewturley352]

I saw the prodigy a few days ago in birmingham and soft play opened for them, i hadnt heard them before but the energy and performance was unreal. I became a fan after the first song.

[@metalbangerbible5443]

Soft Play are great and this is such a fantastic comeback track. That main riff doesn’t get boring AT ALL and I’ve been spinning this on repeat for a couple of weeks now. Soft play/ soft c*nts, snowflake/cherries on the whole cake and the Johnny Rotten lines are all fantastic too!

[@DistrictWitch]

keep waking up with it stuck in my fking head haha. absolutely astounding tune

[@olliehill1879]

Still playing it now

[@robertwilder7366]

I came here for people enjoying enjoying the sound, but honestly the nuanced and respectful conversation is something else

[@Ollyss1]

Yes it was robbie williams lads....he sent laurie (guitarist) a voicemail saying he wanted to make music like them and did that middle eight for them

[@connorneal2287]

Just a little thing to add, the kid with the long hair with the denim jacket punching Lauries (the guitarist) face is his son 🤘

[@ZWaters]

They mentioned that it’s a bit Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes. The 2nd gig Soft Play did after they reformed was at a festival called 2000 Trees (medium sized punk festival in the UK) and they headlined the 2nd day, Frank Carter headlined the 3rd. I worked at that festival just to go see Soft Play and it was just incredible. Crowd was insane. So good and so much fun

[@charlesbarker8533]

The best 2000trees lineup I’ve ever been too

[@mirandamostad]

Idea for the next festival: apply for press credentials and put a mini bounce house (or ball pit) in your interview space. I think the artists will see you guys are willing to have fun and be more open.

[@nathandjohnny]

I think we already have that reputation haha

[@mirandamostad]

@@nathandjohnny Sure, but seeing you guys falling over/chucking balls at each other would be entertaining. Smart money would be on Nath to win, but Johnny seems devious, lol.

[@K1NGD0M]

The driving riff in the background reminds me of Future Palace's new song "Malphas", it sounds very similar to me!

[@mr.sushi2221]

Yay u guys took my rec

[@BeerPongChampion2691]

New Youth Fountain is out!!! And it's wonderful! Pop Punk is alive and well

[@deboraherskine8503]

I can't think of any other bands that have them bouncing on a bouncy castle in their videos. Soft play is a band I forgot existed, I've went and added them to my spotify, so thanks for reminding me of them. That's todays "getting ready" music 😁

[@jyoungman92]

As a brit just wanna point out that "soft play" is like a indoor kids playground with slides and ballpits. The name "soft play" for this kind of place has taken off over the last few years so maybe that's where the new name came from? They are such a good band though! Quality live!

[@jonnyo3379]

Yeah this song is about their name change and some people’s reaction to it who called them pc and woke.

[@MrNerdyBrit]

Hell yeah! you mentioned Gallows, my fave band

[@eye-gs4uj]

Yes! It's Robbie Williams haha, and I love that the lyrics are instagram comments about the change of name, too gooooooddddd. Love Soft Play

[@commitbike]

This is such a good track and that is Robbie Williams in the video

[@connors7078]

Oh, hell yeah. I just put this into number 1 on my 2023 list, then I see this. I wonder if the right people get who they are having a crack at!

[@DistrictWitch]

mate the comments section of that video is a catastrophe lol, half if not more of the comments seem to think they're some 'cool anti-pc people' hahaha, it's insane

[@connors7078]

@@DistrictWitch Could see that coming :D Right wingers using this for their anthem would be the ultimate irony :D

[@conors4430]

Apparently the entire song is a clap back at their fans who lost their shit because they change their band name and the lyrics are everything there. Salty fans wrote to them to have a Winge about. Usually there’s no bigger snowflake than the person complaining about everybody being a snowflake

[@micktheoldpunk]

I'm new to soft play and love them. Can anyone recommend similar groups i might like?

[@mayordenis]

Here lads, look up Golly Bars - an ice cream in Ireland like 25 years ago. Soft Play made the right call, more power to them.

[@trg10y]

Hahaha “he looks like Robbie Williams!” 😂😂

[@IruskaCape]

9:20 Eskimo is not a racial slur, it's an inclusive term for all Northern Arctic peoples. Some white elites came along and pushed an unconfirmed (now debunked) hypothesis about the origin and original meaning of the word and declared it offensive. What's not inclusive is the word Inuit because it only refers to ethnic Inuit and not to any other Northern Arctic people (Yupik, Kalaallit, Iñupiat, Aleut). Using Inuit instead of Eskimos to refer to all Northern Arctic peoples is actually much less inclusive. Disclaimer: As with the terms Native American and American Indian, there's huge disagreements within indigenous communities about the use of those terms. Generally speaking, all indigenous people that went to the European (white) man's schools (universities) oddly enough take more offense to words like Indians or Eskimos than indigenous peoples in rural communities who didn't go to university (for reference, check out Peter Santenello's videos about the Yupik people on Lawrence Island and his series with indigenous peoples from all across the USA). Usually, all indigenous people prefer to be referred to by their own tribe's name but since there are literally thousands of tribes in the Americas, knowing the correct name of every tribe and ethnicity is something for experts and people who are frequently in contact with those tribes. It's unrealistic to expect anyone to know thousands of different tribes by name. Same goes with the fact that everyone uses "white people" as a non-offensive term when referring generally to hundreds of different ethnic groups native to the European continent. Eskimos is an inclusive term that just means all Northern Arctic peoples including Inuit, Yupik, Kalaallit, Aleut, and Iñupiat.

[@owenrice4055]

Guys it might be worth checking out the new EP. Pretty cool & funny videos

[@ImSoCity]

Nath & john-knee!!!

[@PullinWheeliesForTrash]

They knew Frank Carter, happy days

[@Mr_Fisticuffs_Collects]

Liked this one purely for the comparison with Death From Above and Gallows, spot on.

[@spiderboris79]

Yeah all the lyrics are taken from comments they received online after changing their name and being accused of being 'woke snowflakes!'

[@itsbradpaton]

So Bri-ish! Love it! I have a feeling that is Robbie Williams, looks and sounds like him!

[@insertgenericusernamehere2402]

It is

[@xshelbsterx7559]

Can you guys please react the all female metalcore band Conquer Divide. They just dropped a new album and its so good!

[@chaoticsquid]

Few mentions. They took some time out because of personal issues. They didn't change their name to be more sensitive, they stand by their original name meaning 'slaves to the system' which is a common theme in their earlier albums, "we are all slaves" is a chant in one song, they just didn't want the negative attention that their old name brought them, hence them pushing back at the 'PC' train of thought in this song. New name is an oxymoron, hard punk/soft play. And that IS Robbie Williams, just an uncredited cameo which is brilliant.

[@nathandjohnny]

Thanks dude!

[@saeedyounus6930]

The song isn't pushing back on the pc train of thought, the song is made up of comments the band received on their socials after they announced their name change, people calling them woke babies. And the song is a mild taking the piss out of those fans.

[@Ptolomey]

Mate this is all bullshit, completely the opposite of what they were saying, its taking the piss out of people who didnt like their name change cause it was "too pc" and called them soft, they acknowledged and agreed that their old name was problematic.

[@brianhead2709]

To miss the point this much is honestly impressive. “They’re pushing back at the PC train.” 😂 Nah my guy

[@chaoticsquid]

What I meant by that is that they were pushing back at fans calling them PC or woke, which is not something they're trying to be, the old name is just not a good one for a band to be successful even given the meaning not being offensive. Maybe I could've phrased it better but at least attempt to pick up on context clues.

[@firemonkey1015]

Well when people say they “have no ties to it”, you probably do. It’s not just Africans who went through it, literally every culture and people on the planet went through it at some point. You probably have ties to it without even knowing.

[@jonnyo3379]

Have you reacted or listened to IDLES? I think you’ll like them.

[@rossdamerell]

Weirdly enough I love these guys but can't stand idles.

[@MrBigChiefSugar]

@@rossdamerellI love idles man

[@tjht671]

softplay also known as the slaves great brit band

[@paulfoot9230]

not known as Slaves anymore

[@tjht671]

@@paulfoot9230 always be the slaves to me,they a local band too

[@bendunbar5517]

Yh it’s Robbie Williams , love it

[@nathandjohnny]

We got you

[@richardkennedy7941]

Av just found out about these, sort of enter shikari vibes aswell to me

[@kbants4063]

You need to check out man of the hour by frank carter and the rattlesnakes 🤘🏻

[@autisticberserker1807]

Good show.

[@mnky75]

It is Robbie Williams, he's a fan.

[@brynmorepayne1465]

Doing a track specifically about people complaining over you name change ❤ (slaves ->Soft Play)

[@thedave8972]

I'm coming at this very late, but with your question about erasing the past, there's a difference between preservation and veneration. Take the confederate flag for example. It belongs in a museum as an artifact to learn from, but nobody should ever be waving it as a symbol that they stand for.

[@SIC6SIX]

It 100% is Robbie Williams btw

[@dangosbee]

Check out Riskee & The Ridicule if you like this and Gallows, their new album is amazing.

[@HenryRuins]

Ngl the drummer/vocalist kinda looks like Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth but with shorter hair

[@iainstirling1475]

Punks dead I don’t like Change. Brilliant lyric and so ironic😂

[@scottharland622]

Gives me harder version of The Streets vibes

[@PhilJRose]

I miss punk bands that DID want to piss people off but I guess they are pissing some of their fans off so that's a good thing.

[@gonk9204]

They do want to piss people off, they never stopped wanting to be antagonistic whether theyre going by 'slaves' or 'soft play'. Its just, they want to piss the right people off, not the working classes, afterall thats the spirit of punk, unite people in punching up and not down. Thats why when they got backlash for their name change being 'pc' and 'snowflake' from supposed fans they decided to bite back with a heavy hitting song proving theyre still the same band, even if some of the fans decided to be oversensitive over something as simple as a name change.

[@RealMelGibson]

Lol these guys did no research

[@nathandjohnny]

It’s a reaction video… why would we research? Haha

[@XSecretMistakesX]

While I can see their pov on naming their band Slaves in the beginning, I am very happy they decided to change it 😅

[@insertgenericusernamehere2402]

Supposedly Bob Vylan another punk artist (and person of colour) good friend of theirs too... Said I can't wear your shirts and suggested the name soft play. 😊

[@edschultz9551]

@@insertgenericusernamehere2402 Sounds like a shit friend.

[@WaaDoku]

Idk mate. Punk went from "FKK THE SYSTEM!!!" to "let's not offend anyone and use words everyone can agree with and you better do the same thing and don't disagree because otherwise you're a whiny baby". Kinda weird but ok. The music is sick tho, can't argue with that.

[@zuma206]

That's not what happend. They had a black friend who didn't want to wear merch with 'slaves' plastered all over it. They changed their name, risked their career, and pissed a bunch of people off for a friend. But idk, I guess that's not punk, and everyone needs to appeal to the conservative agenda.

[@WaaDoku]

@@zuma206 ... they changed their band name because of a t-shirt? That's even more depressing to know that. Surely not all of their shirts had only the word "Slaves" in big letters on them but maybe an album cover and title or something? What a weird reason to change the decade-old established name of an iconic band. What would be the "conservative agenda" here? Quite the opposite, I think the band became conservative by not wanting to offend anyone. That's a pretty illiberal conservative value to get everyone in line and not say bad words. Heck, they still choose pretty offensive words in their lyrics and song titles. But the line was just their band name? Idk, it seems very odd to me. But anyways, they can do whatever they want obviously. I just think they should've leaned into it more and called themselves Snowflakes or Woke Cake. Those are some sick tongue-in-cheek names for a punk band. Or go the other route and just add something to the name and change it to "Slaves To The System" or something, to make it 100% clear for the non-fans who do not know or care what the band and band name stands for.

[@jameseckersley4926]

​@WaaDoku punks have always been woke, in the original way of been aware of injustice to certain groups. There's nothing more punk than changing your name and not caring if you piss people off.

[@WaaDoku]

@@jameseckersley4926 Yeah, I agree 100% with the first sentence. That's why they should see right through this new authoritarian kind of "woke" that tries to tell people what to do, how to live, what to think, and what words they should use. That's diametrically opposed to a punk way of life. Virtue signalling is petty activism for good feels, not punk.

[@BenMcinnes2]

I wonder if you will have to re name the breakdown 👀

[@nathandjohnny]

Why? Haha

[@BenMcinnes2]

@@nathandjohnny someone who's had a mental breakdown might not like it