Observer & Eccentric
March 29, 2001
Together Again
Soft Boys Reunite, Ready To Rock
by Stephanie Angelyn Casola
Robyn Hitchcock has never gazed at moonlight from underwater. But he thinks he ought to try. Twenty-one years since the release of Underwater Moonlight, Hitchcock has reunited The Soft Boys. Along with the re-release of the album on Matador Records, and a second CD, ...And How It Got There, The Soft Boys are about to return to Rock's regular vocabulary. "Basically this tour is a 21st birthday party," said Hitchcock, during a phone interview from his London home. "It is probably the best record the Soft Boys ever did."
Releasing the record worldwide proved difficult, according to bassist Matthew Seligman. Matador came along. "They seem to be really into what they do," said Seligman. "We just kind of said yes."
Sick Of Shadows
Underwater Moonlight, a Pop-influenced Punk album filled with imagery, seemed unusual for the state of music in 1980. "It was to the side of its time," said Hitchcock. "It grew out of the '60s and mid-to-late-'70s, the Punk Era. There was a lot of, kind of, Beatles denial. [Musicians were] sick of the shadow of The Beatles, The Byrds and The Beach Boys -- all the people who began with B. That was the music we'd grown up with." Rather than deny those influences, Hitchcock and his bandmates -- Kimberley Rew, Morris Windsor, and Matthew Seligman -- embraced them. For Hitchcock, the album represents "the first time I really started to write good songs."
Though he'd been writing for years with friends at art school, it wasn't until the late-'70s with The Soft Boys that Hitchcock found he truly had something to say. Those words came in the form of "Queen Of Eyes" and "I Wanna Destroy You", songs like "Insanely Jealous". For Seligman, the album represents his first try at recording. "We were quite a poor band," he said, reflecting. "Simple would have to be the word."
The album was written and recorded rather quickly, during sessions in June 1979 and again after young bassist Matthew Seligman replaced Andy Metcalfe in March 1980. The Soft Boys didn't have much money. They took to recording in a
boathouse in Cambridge. Those sessions are roughly documented on ...And How It Got There. It's an auditory glimpse into the mindset that created songs that have stood the test of time.
"We were working on more complex, Blues-y stuff. "Insanely Jealous", "Underwater Moonlight" -- the words hadn't congealed," said Hitchcock. Seligman laughed and said he's glad the extra CD is free. "There is some weird bass playing," he said. "I kind of wonder what I was on."
For Hitchcock, it incites memories of what it was like to write those songs. "I'd be basically staring at something out on the water, staring at a beam of light," he said. That hypnotic state served him well. "Once someone threw a bicycle into the river. It still had a light on. The light shined up through the water from this, sort of, drowned bicycle.
A Vision
Such a scene might have been an inspiration for Underwater Moonlight, said Hitchcock. He's not sure. "I just had this vision of 'Underwater Moonlight'. I might even have heard the title before. I imagined these two people going out for a row -- two lovers -- and then their boat is intercepted by a huge sea creature. Two statues appear where the lovers stood. I remember writing it, but I don't remember then what I was feeling."
By the time Seligman joined on, the band had moved to London from Cambridge, and had begun rehearsing at another space near Waterloo. "We were definitely trying to be a Punk band when we recorded 'I Wanna Destroy You'," he said. Seligman remembers it as an exciting time. "I think I was very committed. I was very happy that I made this record. I'd never been to America before." Underwater Moonlight brought him to New York for the first time. The Soft Boys have rehearsed a few times since last July. Most of its members remained in music through the years, working together or keeping in touch in some form. Rew's band The Waves became Katrina And The Waves and hit with "Walking On Sunshine". Seligman spent some time as a barrister.
"I think he just needed a break," said Hitchcock. But he also played early on with the Thompson Twins, Thomas Dolby before they became household names. He even shared the stage with his personal idol, David Bowie. "When you play with someone like Bowie," Seligman said, "it, sort of, ends your career." He worked as a session musician until the early-1990s. When the Boys finally came back together, Hitchcock said, it sounded surprisingly good. "I think 'Insanely Jealous' is the best song," said Hitchcock. "I've never written anything better than that."
There is a strong contrast between the band today and the low-fi wails on Underwater Moonlight. "The edges are much smoother, even if the music is the same," said Hitchcock. Seligman agreed, noting that it's strange to hear it so well-played.
"We never played to an audience," he said in a modest, teasing tone, "We always played to empty rooms." When The Soft Boys hit Detroit tonight, the room will be full.
The band plan to record the show and broadcast on the Web. "It really matters there," said Hitchcock. "The Soft Boys gotta make a live album in Detroit." Seligman too is looking forward to the show. "If it's good, everyone will be in a state of shock, including the band," he said.
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