22/09/2025

Soft Bait & Sulfate – Double Whammy: September 20, 2025

Auckland rockers Soft Bait celebrated their new album, Life Advice, along with Sulfate and Stud Finder at Double Whammy this past last Saturday night.

Those bemoaning the demise of guitar-based rock band can rest easy as Soft Bait and Sulfate proved there’s plenty of life left in the genre.

Stud Finder

But no one told Stud Finder. There wasn’t an electric guitar to be found among the five piece band that included to keyboard/synth players (Aki Crummer & Liam Pram) along with lead vocalist George Banach-Salas with Paul Brown (who we saw with Jim Nothing last week) on bass and Madison Plummer on drums.

With a 9pm start time, Double Whammy was filling up nicely as Stud Finder began their 30-minute set.

Visually, the focal point is vocalist George Banach-Salas, but musically, it’s the synths of Ali and Liam that are doing the heavy lifting. Those synths and bassist Paul Brown’s glittery coat generated an 80’s sheen which may not have been ideal for this crowd.

We heard release tune Cup Half Full and seven others during a set that could be best described as “unfocussed”. Maybe that’s what happens when to bring together musicians from such a diverse range of other acts such as Babygel, Hospital Sports and Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing.

Let’s see what they come up with next…

Sulfate

Now Sulfate has a sound that is solidly their own.

Led by Peter Ruddell and two albums into their “career”, the trio sounds much more than a Wax Chattels side-project.

In fact, the band’s 30-minutes could be best described as “incendiary”. With current events being what they are, Sulfate sounds like what a rock band should sound like in 2025…angry, defiant…lashing out at the status quo.

Ruddell’s guitar squalls on It’ll Come Out In The Wash.

“We’re Sulfate, not to be confused with Soft Bait”, announces Ruddell, as they lay down the gauntlet…almost daring the headliners to follow them.

Soft Bait

Fortunately, Soft Bait are up to the challenge.

Their second album, Life Advice, is just out, and our own John Bradbury (in the audience tonight) calls them, “a band to hang on to for the ride” in his review.

Compared to what we just heard, Soft Bait is a bit more controlled, a bit more melodic.

But there’s still plenty of fire in their bellies as they perform all of Life Advice along with a few choice selections from debut album, Plot Points.

Highlights for me we the jagged riffs that came with Oh Well and the explosive, seething rage of Sleep.

And at about 11:25…just under an hour after they mounted their aural assault…it was all over.

And, yes, from what I have just seen and heard, angry, guitar-driven rock still has its place, at least here in central Auckland, where there is plenty to be angry about.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to few a photo gallery by Brenna Jo Gotje:

Soft Bait: