Shindig! Issue #165 – The Soft Boys

Commercially ignored and out of step with the times, THE SOFT BOYS’ second album, 1980’s Underwater Moonlight, has since taken its rightful place as a hugely influential neo-psychedelic milestone. 

JONATHAN THORNTON dives into this birth of a masterpiece with Robyn Hitchcock and Kimberley Rew

The Soft Boys found themselves short of cash, a situation that was to influence how Underwater Moonlight would be recorded. “We just had less money,” says Hitchcock, “so we worked much more cheaply.” This would prove a blessing in disguise. The band relocated from the 16-track studio in Cambridge to the Alaska and James Morgan studios in London. “The ones done in London were on four- and eight-track,” explains Hitchcock, “which meant that (producer and engineer) Pat Collier had to bounce the songs down. It was more like the way The Beatles and Stones would have recorded back in the ’60s, which quite suited what we were doing.”

Certainly, Underwater Moonlight is a fantastic sounding record, the guitars of opener ‘I Wanna Destroy You’ bursting out of the speakers with a raw energy that for the first time suggested The Soft Boys could merge those ’60s influences with the aggression and immediacy of punk. Its lyrics see Hitchcock taking issue with punk’s directionless anger. “It’s a protest song against human nature,” he says. “Sadly, it’s as applicable today as it was then.” ‘I’ve Got The Hots For You’ mixes surreal and uncomfortable explorations of sexuality with swinging Beefheart guitar riffs, whilst the sublime jangle-pop of ‘Queen Of Eyes’ harks back to The Byrds and anticipates the next 30 years of indie music.

Rew attributes the band’s growing confidence to their development as musicians, particularly Hitchcock’s songwriting. “Robyn, as you know, was a bit of a genius – extremely creative, very focused, a very inspiring person.” Another factor was the addition of Seligman, whom he describes as “very much a feel-oriented player”. “He had this kind of relaxed, floating, swinging groove, which we didn’t have before he joined.” Rew himself also had evolved as a musician, gaining the confidence to use his guitar effectively but sparingly. “I kind of realised I didn’t have to keep playing at five trillion notes per hour all the time, in case anyone thought I couldn’t play! So on ‘Insanely Jealous’, I sort of don’t come in for the first two minutes.”

While the album contained the most assured and powerful songs Hitchcock had written to date, Hitchcock himself is quick to acknowledge the importance of The Soft Boys as a group in giving the album its unique sound. “They’re my songs, but I can’t take credit for the way it sounds. There’s a sort of optimism, or a mania, or a bounce to the music that doesn’t come from me. It comes from Matthew, Morris and Kim playing my songs.”

Underwater Moonlight was released by Armageddon Records in June 1980. 

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To read the full Soft Boys article you can order Shindig! #165 here