Soft Boys - 1980 - Underwater Moonlight

Soft Boys - 1980 - Underwater Moonlight

Formato: MP3
Bitrate: 128
Tamaño : 62MB

Rock,Alternative Pop/Rock,New Wave,Post-Punk,Jangle Pop,British Punk,College Rock

The Soft Boys have turned out to be one of the most influential bands in shaping contemporary alternative music, though few are completely familiar with the quirky band's legacy. Formed in Cambridge, England in 1976 on the heels of the punk revolution, the Soft Boys eschewed the three-chord nihilism of punk and opted for a crude version of psychedelic/folk-rock that was well on its way out of fashion, but oddly, just on the cusp of a resurgence.

Robyn Hitchcock recruited Cambridge musicians Morris Windsor on drums, Andy Metcalfe on bass, and guitarist Alan Davies, and recorded Give It to the Soft Boys in Hitchcock's living room in 1976. Davies was soon replaced by guitarist Kimberley Rew. The band released a single, "(I Want to Be An) Anglepoise Lamp," followed by the Can of Bees album in 1979.

While recording the follow-up, Metcalfe left the band and was replaced by Matthew Seligman. The new lineup started fresh and recorded Underwater Moonlight, the album that found the band trading psychedelic jams for a more straight-ahead jangle pop-guitar rock sound. The LP has become extremely influential in the guitar rock canon -- the Replacements, R.E.M., and the L.A. Paisley Underground scene all claimed it as a prime influence. The album launched a thousand bands, but it turned out to be the Soft Boys' swan song. Two more recordings were released posthumously: the 2 Halfs for the Price of One EP in 1981, and some early sessions compiled on Invisible Hits in 1983. The first EP was re-released in 1984 as Wading Through a Ventilator.

Windsor and Metcalfe began to collaborate with Hitchcock again in 1984 as the Egyptians, while Seligman became an in-demand session musician and Rew went on to form Katrina & the Waves. Hitchcock has had a prolific post-Soft Boys recording career, sticking to the unusual style he's forged and finessed since 1976, with 15 albums to his credit.

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After recording the material that would later comprise the bulk of Invisible Hits, the Soft Boys recorded their masterpiece, the shimmering neo-psychedelic Underwater Moonlight. Essentially, the band didn't change their style for the record -- they merely perfected it. The Soft Boys don't hide their influences -- whether its the ringing guitars of the Beatles and Byrds or the surreal humor of John Lennon and Syd Barrett -- but they assimilate them, resulting in a fresh, edgy take on '60s guitar pop. Robyn Hitchcock's subject matter tends to be more explicitly weird and absurdist than his influences, as titles like "I Wanna Destroy You," "Old Pervert," and "Queen of Eyes" indicate -- even "Kingdom of Love" equates romance to bugs crawling under your skin. But the lyrics aren't the only thing that are edgy -- the music is too. The Soft Boys play pop hooks as if they were punk rock. "I Wanna Destroy You" isn't overtly threatening like their post-punk contemporaries, but with its layered guitar hooks and dissonant harmonies, it is equally menacing. Furthermore, the group can twist its songs inside out and then revert them to their original form, as evidenced by "Insanely Jealous." Although the neo-psychedelic flourishes are fascinating, the key to record's success is how each song is constructed around rock-solid hooks and melodies that instantly work their way into the subconscious. In fact, that's the most notable thing about Underwater Moonlight -- it updates jangling, melodic guitar pop for the post-punk world, which made it a touchstone for much of the underground pop of the mid-'80s, particularly R.E.M.

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1 - I Wanna Destroy You Hitchcock 2:52
2 - Kingdom of Love Hitchcock 4:11
3 - Positive Vibrations Hitchcock 3:10
4 - I Got the Hots Hitchcock 4:43
5 - Insanely Jealous Hitchcock 4:12
6 - Tonight Hitchcock 3:44
7 - You'll Have to Go Sideways Hitchcock 2:57
8 - Old Pervert Hitchcock, Rew, Seligman ... 3:52
9 - Queen of Eyes Hitchcock 1:58
10 - Underwater Moonlight Hitchcock 4:17
11 - Vegetable Man [*] Hitchcock 2:59
12 - Strange [*] Hitchcock 2:59
13 - Only the Stones Remain [*] Hitchcock 2:50
14 - Where Are the Prawns? [*] Hitchcock 6:04
15 - Dreams [*] Hitchcock 4:37
16 - Black Snake Diamond Rock [*] Hitchcock 4:24
17 - There's Nobody Like You [*] Hitchcock 3:11
18 - Song No. 4 [*] Hitchcock 4:35

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10 Puntos 0 Favoritos 1234 Visitas

Creado el: 27.06.2007 a las 13:59:47 hs.

Categoría: Música

Tags: post-punk, new wave, college rock, british punk, alternative pop/rock, jangle pop

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#1 - jaco2701 | 27.06.2007 14:00:32 dijo:

#2 - thegrouch11 | 27.06.2007 23:51:59 dijo:
Nooo! sabes cuanto hace que buscaba algo de los Soft Boys!! tengo solo uno...te debo los 12...y cuando Megaupload me deje, me lo bajo...

Gracias!

#3 - thegrouch11 | 29.06.2007 01:42:25 dijo:
Pagando deudas... +12 y gracias de nuevo!

#4 - thegrouch11 | 29.06.2007 01:45:37 dijo:
Puta! cuando quiero dar los 2 puntos que me faltan me tira un "error al votar"...T! no me deja pagar mis deudas!

Bue, cuando pueda van los 2 quefaltan...la intención estuvo...

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