Underwater Moonlight

3/5. This is a solid little rock album that actually feels pretty predictive of a lot of the college-rock and jangle-pop to come later in the decade. You can hear the basis for bands like R.E.M., the Smiths and even later indie acts like the Pixies at points on this album. That being said, it’s a case where this album walked so those artists could run, both in the sense that upon its release this album wasn’t particularly successful, but also in that it just isn’t as good as most of what it inspired. Still a number of great songs though like the closing title track, the opener “I wanna destroy you” or “positive vibrations” which has a solid bounce to its instrumental.

Very good album.

It does indeed sound a bit like The Replacements or R.E.M. And I love those bands, so I also enjoyed this one (and I am aware that this actually predates the others, so discovering this album was really nice). It has some psychedelic and some "Beatleness" as well.

Some tracks I particularly enjoyed: "I Wanna Destroy You", "Kingdom Of Love" (weird lyrics), "Positive Vibrations" (really loved the instrumental break...sitar included), "I Got The Hots" (also interesting lyrics, and very nice dynamics), "Insanely Jealous Of You" (nice guitar work), "You'll Have To Go Sideways" (I tend to enjoy instrumentals), "Queen Of Eyes" (nice Byrds-style jangle guitar), or "Underwater Moonlight". So, it's basically most of the songs.

This is a very, very solid 4 star album. It may even reach 5 stars after a few more listens.

During the height of post-punk, when new wave was not yet ruined by synth-pop, one band said: "Hey remember like 10 years ago, when psych rock was a really big deal? What if we did that?"

One of those random british albums that make us all question the point of doing this project. it is *fine*

also one of those albums that users fail to realize is loaded with extras. the album is 36 minutes long, but many users are complaining about the length of the streaming versions (2 hours)

I wrote this off after a single listen. It was just so forgettable and safe. But then I spent most of the day thinking about what it was I couldn't connect with about it and that compelled me to come back to it for another listen. Glad I did because the second listen really brought out a lot more for me. It is still safe; poppy and upbeat, and I don't really hear much psych in it other than the occasional use of a sitar, but it takes some chances and many of them work. I can certainly hear how this influenced a lot of later '80s "college rock."

I don't want to play armchair record label executive, but I wonder if this album would have done better with a less creepy cover? Because I don't think its commercial failure is down to the songs - this might be one of my favourite discoveries so far.

Цікавий мікс павер-попу та пост-панка(?), нагадало щось типу реплейсментс, але звісно не таке класне. Черговий новий для мене гурт з когорти подібних жанрів.

This didn't really do much for me. The music is fine, lyrics are okayish, vocals are fine. Nothing really outstanding, and dear lord there's a lot of it.

This is some very average Brit rock.

Es ist ein schillerndes, leicht verwirrtes Stück Gitarren-Avant-Pop, das zwischen Psychedelic, Post-Punk und schrägem Jangle-Rock hin- und herspringt. Die Soft Boys klingen gleichzeitig verspielt und bissig, oft brillant in ihren Ideen, aber nicht immer fokussiert. Viele Songs haben großartige Hooks, doch die Mischung aus Nervosität, Ironie und Experimentierlust führt dazu, dass das Album eher fasziniert als wirklich packt.

I don't think this project has necessarily uncovered many gems for me (mostly "yep, agree, that's a classic" or "huh, interesting, I don't think I would have listened to this before) but this is absolutely lovely. 60s harmonies combined with early 80s power pop / post-punk.

Thanks 1001 albums project (and thanks to the reviewer below who pointed out there was a 10 song version available)

I’m at a 5.

It took me until the final track to realize what this album is trying to be (at least in my mind) – this is a slightly psychotic twist on the beach rock albums of the 1960s. Yes, the soundscape here is sort of a poppier psych-rock / punk hybrid that feels well ahead of pace at points, & it is the key reason why this album is as good as it is, but something about the mildly perverse & off-kilter lyrics really help to sell the vibe. “I Wanna Destroy You” is the perfect type of poppy threatening track to kick things off, and “Kingdom of Love” has weird analogies throughout that just leave a kind of sliminess to everything. “Positive Vibrations” drops the pretense of peace through unity pretty quickly & goes right into peace via military strength. "I Got The Hots” feels like an anti-love love track, both “Insanely Jealous” & “Tonight” come across as stalker-y in a compelling way, & “Underwater Moonlight” feels like a direct riff on the idea of beaches as fun safe spots for people to hang out in. That moonlight is not as freeing as it sounds, at least to me. Just look at that cover art again; those are the statues that replaced the two lovers on the title track. They’re weird. This whole album is weird, in a good way.

The lyricism enhances the soundscape, and since both are played totally straight, it takes a bit to gather the ‘deconstruction of the 60s’ vibe this album is trying to give off, since it plays as homage for most of the album. We love to think of the ‘60s, at least musically, as a love-friendly utopia of sorts, and yet this album takes those values and tries to retain them musically while still expressing the more complex realities of the era. I’m glad it’s played straight, as the instrumentals here really are the highlight. The bass, acoustics, percussion – hell, even the sitar on “Positive Vibrations” – all of it works well together, and each instrumental feels befitting of their titles & the lyrics. Yes, this includes “Old Pervert”, which is just so out there instrumentally to the point of feeling like it could fall apart at any second, that it just kind of makes the track & the freaky character under the bridge work with how hard they sell it. The commitment to playing it musically straight is what makes the album work; it’s the equivalent of watching a great parody movie to the point where you don’t realize it’s a parody.

For me, it’s a 5 – there’s just something appealing to it in both ways that really worked for me, and while a few tracks do have a bit of repetition to them, it’s a mostly breezy 36 minutes that feel worthwhile to listen to. I think the floor is a 3 if the lyricism just doesn’t click / appeal, but I think this album more than holds its own otherwise. I’m glad it’s on the list.

P.S.: If nothing else, I’m glad I can tell people the person who wrote “Walking on Sunshine” also wrote a song called “Old Pervert” years prior. That’s a real fact.

It’s not bad, I liked the faster power pop punk style stuff. Some of it was like The Stranglers just not as good.

Nothing that got stuck in my head

Here's me been thinking for a few decades that Stiv Bators sang I Wanna Destroy You. Soft Boys/Dead Boys confusion. To be fair it sounds more like a Bators' title than a Hitchcock one. Still. The shame of it.

I had never heard of this one before, but can see the influence on 80s and 90s jangle pop very clearly. I was initially thinking a 4, but after a long break from this project and listening again today, I think it's closer to a 5. There are so many well crafted songs on here, and I love the punky edge they have. It's a great bridge between the 60s jangle pop era and 80s post punk. Will be listening to this one a lot - one of the best discoveries from this project for me.

Indulgence

Psychedelic post-punk with a quirky, slightly dark sense of humour is an unusual flavour but The Soft Boys show it to be quite effective.

I Wanna Destroy You is a passionate anthem of hate with gorgeous harmonies. Positive Vibrations is the complete flip of this with cheery vocals over quite anxious, busy-brained and amped up guitars. Tonight is more at ease with itself with quiet verses and electric, punch the air choruses. The twisty turny guitars on You’ll Have To Go Sidewides are brain bending. And then there are the various more patient, far weird cuts.

A vast record!

Okay, a confessions. I listened to the 10 songs that were on the original release. The other 5 or 6 dozen I skipped.

I made a note when listening to the first few tracks "If the Hollies did punk" and it did seem to be some sort of missing link between 60s British Invasion pop and the later Britpop.

Probably R.E.M. had a listen as well.

But then we hit "I've Got the Hots" and it went sideways into Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd whimsy - even to the point of a Psychedelia instrumental. And the less said about "Old Pervert" the better.

I saw them described as "quirky" and "unique", which probably true, but the 10 songs on the original album.gave me no reason to go on to the expanded edition.

Grateful for the public service announcement rhighlighting the existence of the original 40min version … almost went in on 2.5 hrs 😱

I liked it … but probably won’t listen again