What better way to beat that humid Iowa City summer than with cool drinks and underground venues? The Prids and Soft Tags, both hailing from the Pacific Northwest, gave us plenty of reason to get out of the heat and into The Yacht Club with back-to-back high energy sets of indie rock. The students may have shipped out for the summer months, but that hasn’t kept Iowa City from rocking with bells on, and we have the video to prove it.
Up first were Soft Tags, fresh off an earlier afternoon set on the Little Village Live radio show. With roots in Iowa City, the show was a bit of a homecoming for the group, currently touring to the East Coast and back alongside The Prids.
Although their music is, of course, contemporary, the Soft Tags’ own brand of vocal harmonization paired with layered acoustic and distorted guitar highlight the group’s vintage rock influences. Fans of The Stooges or Velvet Underground will find something to admire in this group from Portland, so be sure to give the following video a look to see what the fuss is about.
Following Soft Tags were The Prids, a pop rock group–also from Portland–whose soaring string melodies are a pleasure to hear in their own right, but throw in Maile Arruda’s powerful keyboard play and the group becomes something truly worth listening to. One might find it apt to compare The Prids to Sonic Youth–there are similarities, after all–but such a comparison is reductive. Do yourself a favor and give them a listen below to see and hear all that The Prids have to offer.
If you like what you hear, more footage of both The Prids and Soft Tags is available in the Little Village Youtube channel for your listening pleasure.
