Rockbites: The Soft Boys, reunited again, release deluxe package

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March 2001 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

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The Soft Boys, reunited again, release deluxe package
12 March 2001

Neo-psychedelic godfathers The Soft Boys, who formed in the mid ’70s in Cambridge, England and established an extraordinarily devoted cult following on both sides of the Atlantic despite criminal media neglect, are back together for a second reunion and tour. Perhaps this go-round will win them some of the attention so deserved and so absent a generation ago. Then again, maybe some things are just too good for the masses. (Misanthropic... moi?!)
    With all of their records long out of print (vinyl and CD versions both), front man Robyn Hitchcock—also of The Egyptians and extensive solo work—decided to release just one item from The Soft Boys’ back catalog to coincide with the reunion: an extra-special version of the band’s amazing 1980 swan song, Underwater Moonlight—an LP described by The Trouser Press Record Guide as “...one of the new wave’s finest half-dozen albums and unquestionably its most unjustly underrated one.” It’s available today in the UK and tomorrow in North America.
    The 2001 edition of the LP—this time on Matador—includes all the bonus tracks that appeared on the 1990 CD issue on Glass Fish Records, plus one more: a version of the jealous love ditty He’s A Reptile, a track that’s appeared as a single and on the Soft Boys album Invisible Hits:

      See Your baby
      She’s been on the sand
      How the hell did that guy
      Get on dry land?
      Better bolt up
      Both your baby’s doors
      She’ll be dancing with him
      On all fours!
      He’s a reptile.

    The original LP, along with all the extra tracks that appear on the new CD version, cost well under £1,000 (US$1,500) to record, mix, and master 21 years ago. The new edition benefits from some nice sonic tweaks, and, while it retains the nostaligia-inducing analog tape glitches and squashy compression, is noticeably brighter and the arrangements more open sounding.
    The new edition also comes with archival artwork, great liner notes by David Fricke, and a bonus disc with nearly an hour of previously unreleased Underwater Moonlight rehearsal sessions (most taped on cassette or split-stereo two-track). The new edition is an absolute must for Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys fans, and a deluxe introduction for all others who appreciate surrealistic genius pop.
    Hitchcock, whose mind-numbingly clever stream-of-consciousness lyrical imagery has remained uniquely compelling for 25 years, explains The Soft Boys’ rejection by the music media in the ’70s: “British punk was embarrased to be smart—and this is something that has persisted there. To be smart is a very un-rock & roll thing. It’s like being teacher’s pet. At that time, you had a music business full of middle-class people frantically trying to cover their traces. So when pathetically middle class people like us came along, especially with a name like The Soft Boys, we got absolutely hammered.”
    Growing from a spot midway between Steeleye Span and Captain Beefheart, triangulating with The Beatles and Syd Barrett, and puréed in a stroboscopically-lit Cuisinart, The Soft Boys’ Underwater Moonlight receives five bites out of five.

Rockbites ratings  5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying.

Review bonus, a lyrical excerpt from Underwater Moonlight’s I Got The Hots:

      There she was
      When you see her
      Your eyes awake
      Electric bulbs
      On a birthday cake
      Would you care for
      A lump of steak
      Or a piece of hake
      Or another take?

Review bonus two: tour tidbit: this Saturday, The Soft Boys play the South By Southwest music festival in Austin before they start an 18-date North American tour. The Austin show will also feature Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and Mogwai.

Review bonus three: the new UK version of Underwater Moonlight contains three tracks not on the North American version: Innocent Boy, Zip Zip, and Pink Floyd’s Astronomy Dominé.
| The Soft Boys on Matador | | tour dates | | Insanely Jealous (full length MP3) | | Underwater Moonlight 2001 (US) track listing | | bio | | discography | | CD | | top of page |

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