Soft Boys
Underwater Moonlight

THE REVIEW

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.