Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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.
While recording the follow-up, Metcalfeleft 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.