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Rating: Whoever loves psychedelia cannot ignore this work, which dated 1980, in the full psychedelic revival, becomes a masterpiece of the aforementioned genre.
The Soft Boys return to the roots, to those bizarre sounds that came from the minds of people playing with drugs like Syd Barrett, from bands like Velvet Underground and early Pink Floyd, reminiscent of the vocal melodies of the Beach Boys as well as the slashes of Hendrix. It is immediately clear that with these coordinates this can only be an explosive album that turns out to be inspired and creative. It suddenly starts with "I Wanna Destroy You" opened by a Beach Boys-like choir cheerfully announcing they want to destroy you, joined by a typical Velvet Underground riff. This song immediately makes it clear that the spirit is not what was experienced in the late '60s; here, the psychedelic form is almost borrowed to express discomfort and/or hedonistic depravity, all seasoned with Barrett's typical childish tone and melodic vignettes akin to the Kinks.
Every song is perfect, containing all the right ingredients and fitting perfectly into the context while having its own autonomy, and thanks to the amalgam with new wave, the album manages to go beyond and create a new genre, just listen to "Positive Vibration" which combines Rolling Stones and Television or the cathartic climax of "Insanely Jealous", the Pink Floyd-ian "Queen Of Eyes" but played like a Dream Syndicate song, or "Old Pervert" where Jimi Hendrix is resurrected. Also noteworthy is "Tonight", hard to describe, simply splendid; in "Underwater Moonlight" it seems like they went to get advice from Syd and to thank him they close the album with the cover of "Vegetable Man" which is in perfect harmony with the rest.
Great value is given to the songs by the skill of the musicians; the guitar, always versatile and adequate, manages to combine hard rock with Garcia-like journeys, delicate strums with Hendrix-like whip strokes, sweet melodies, and fiery solos; the impeccable drums along with the bass, which often becomes the protagonist, mint catchy and never banal rhythms often using funk-like cadences; the voice is worthy of Barrett and the Beach Boys' harmonies.
The new reissues of the album also contain other songs, which unlike what often occurs, are all at the same level as the others and add quality to the work.
Indispensable record where psychedelia is no longer for the mind, but becomes material, for the body, for the senses.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
05 Insanely Jealous (04:16)
She's walking down the street
Me - I'm just invisible
And who or where she walks with makes no difference to me
The people that she meets
She turns them into sideshows
They're just here for their amusement
That's not what I want to be
But I'm insanely jealous of you
Yeah, I'm insanely jealous of you
The night is black and thick
I wander past your window
And I catch a cigarette thrown from a jewel encrusted hand
It comes on pretty quick
Exactly like a crocodille
In search of a mirage across the undulating sand
But I'm insanely jealous of you
Yeah, I'm insanely jealous of you
I don't know why the people want to meet
When all they know is that they'll breed like rabbits in the end
Cause ordinary people on the street
They never know
But if they can't be rabbits they'll be friends
And I'm insanely jealous of the people that you see
And I'm insanely jealous of the people that aren't me
And I'm insanely jealous of you
Yeah, I'm insanely jealous of you
I just can't let it out
This feeling of insanity
Is thicker than a barge upon a shattered heap of coal
I know what it's about
Like crying from a nightmare
And the one who lies beside you cannot hear to save a soul
But I'm insanely jealous of the people that you know
And I'm insanely jealous of the places that you go
And I'm insanely jealous of you
Yeah, I'm insanely jealous of you
The damage that we do is just so powerfully strong
They call it love
And the damage that we do it just goes on and on and on
Not long enough
Paint is cracked and dry
The name is now illegible
And everything is lost upon the cracked and misted hull
Beneath a yellow sky
The lovers trip beside a ship
But all I hear when they embrace is just the kiss of skulls
But I'm insanely jealous of the people that you see
And I'm insanely jealous of the people that aren't me
And I'm insanely jealous of the places that you go
And I'm insanely jealous of the people that you know
And I'm insanely jealous of the hairs upon your back
And I'm insanely jealous of the spiders in your path
And I'm insanely jealous of the stains upon your feet
And I'm insanely jealous of the stuff inside your feet
And I'm insanely jealous of the things upon your bed
And I'm insanely jealous of the jerk that's in your head
And I'm insanely jealous of the people that you love
And I'm insanely jealous of the fingers in your glove
And I'm insanely jealous of you
Insanely jealous of you
Insanely jealous of you
Insanely jealous of you
10 Underwater Moonlight (04:18)
He was white and she was white as only statues are
Fifty years they stood there looking stupid by a jar
One night in mid-august when the moonlight got too strong
They climbed off their pedastal and then they sang this song
Past the gun implacement and the bones as white as bleach
Through the rats and ivy till they came out on a beach
Out into the ocean till they disappeared from view
Honey, when it gets you there's just nothing you can do
Underwater moonlight sets the body free
Underwater moonlight baby you and me
Underwater moonlight
Underwater moonlight
He was pink and she was pink and onward they did row
Didn't see the giant squid though, it was fairly slow
When they hit the bottom they were well and truly dead
The statues took their place and then they rowed back home instead
Underwater moonlight, take your baby down
Underwater moonlight, watch you baby drown with love
And in the moonlight - Underwater moonlight
Underwater moonlight
Underwater moonlight
(there are a few quiet lines here I cannot make out)
Once again
I can take you down - Moonlight
Below the sea - Moonlight
Why don't you feed the fish? - Moonlight
I'll make you feed the fish - Moonlight
I'll watch you feed the fish - Moonlight
I'll watch you feed the fish - Moonlight
Underwater moonlight sets the body free
Underwater moonlight baby, you and me
Underwater moonlight
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By woodstock
The Soft Boys remain a unique group, 'outside' even the big pot where all their various stepbrothers were gathered in the early '80s.
An album to rediscover.
