The Softies were a musical duo consisting of Rose Melberg

Rose Melberg

Rose Melberg is a musician and songwriter from Sacramento, California who has sung and played guitar as a member of Tiger Trap, The Softies and Go Sailor as well as on her own material. She also played drums and made some songwriting contributions with the band Gaze...

 and Jen Sbragia

All Girl Summer Fun Band

-Biography:All Girl Summer Fun Band, or AGSFB, is a Portland based twee-pop quartet made up of Kathy Foster, Jen Sbragia, Kim Baxter, and Ari Douangpanya. Baxter met Sbragia after a Softies show, when Baxter gave Sbragia a tape of her music...

, whose genre was love songs using only their two voices and electric guitars.

Beginning in 1994, the musical group was a side project for both artists. Along with an eventual career as a solo artist, Rose Melberg performed with Tiger Trap

Tiger Trap

Tiger Trap was an all-female twee-pop foursome composed of high school friends Angela Loy and Rose Melberg, with Heather Dunn and Jen Braun. The group recorded for K Records. The name "Tiger Trap" comes from the very first Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. Formed in Sacramento, California in 1992, they...

, Gaze

Gaze (band)

Gaze were an indie pop band based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They released two albums on K Records during the late 1990s.-Members:* Miko Hoffman - guitar/vocals* Megan Mallett - guitar/bass* Rose Melberg - drums-Discography:...

, and Go Sailor

Go Sailor

Go Sailor was a short-lived Berkeley based twee pop band. Its members included Rose Melberg of Tiger Trap and the Softies , Paul Curran of Crimpshrine and Amy Linton of Henry's Dress...

. Jen Sbragia was known for her work with the band Pretty Face

Pretty Face

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Japanese author Yasuhiro Kano. The story revolves around a high school boy who suffers an accident and having his face reconstructed in the form of his crush, attempts to impersonate a girl who his crush mistakes for her twin sister...

. As part of the Twee Pop movement centrally located in the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

, they were able to meet at performances for their respective bands. The two derived their named from a UK New Wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 group.

After Tiger Trap disbanded in January 1994, the pair formed The Softies and recorded the four-song “Love Seat” 7-inch single for Slumberland Records

Slumberland Records

Slumberland Records is an American independent record label formed in 1989 in Washington, D.C. area and currently based in Oakland, CA. The label has released recordings from artists including Velocity Girl, Honeybunch, Lilys, Stereolab, St...

. Calvin Johnson later produced their “He’ll Never Have To Know” single and the band’s debut album It’s Love on the K Records

K Records

K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...

 label. They released an eponymous EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 under Slumberland Records in 1996 (recorded before It's Love). Within months, they would record their critically acclaimed full-length Winter Pageant in Melberg’s childhood home in Sacramento

Sacramento

Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...

, California. In 2000, they released their final collaborative work, Holiday in Rhode Island. It is sometimes speculated that their albums correspond with the seasons of the year as follows: It's Love (Summer), The Softies (Autumn), Winter Pageant (Winter), Holiday in Rhode Island (Spring).

The Softies almost exclusively use two electric guitars and harmonizing vocal melodies for their recorded tracks and live performances. Their lack of accompaniment, inexcessive production, and brevity of their songs are recurring characteristics of their work throughout their three full-length albums.

The band undertook a few tours, including as an opening act for singer/songwriter Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith

Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...

.

Discography

He'll Never Have to Know
7" - K Records - IPU56
(April 1995)

It's Love
LP/CD - K Records - KLP43
(September 1995)

Softies Self Titled
10" - Slumberland Records -
(March 1996)

"The Best Days"
7" - K Records - IPU79
(January 1997)

Winter Pageant
LP/CD - K Records - KLP61
(January 1997)

Holiday In Rhode Island
LP/CD - K Records
(September 2000)

"Loveseat"
7" 4 track EP - Slumberland Records -

External links

• Official Site
• Epitonic Profile (with mp3 samples)
• The Softies: A Retrospective
• Myspace Profile
• rosemelberg.net - Unofficial Rose Melberg fansite