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Post by webm@ster on Nov 12, 2002 12:37:31 GMT -5
Nextdoorland The Soft Boys Nextdoorland (Matador)
As befits a band with the tag "cult heroes," the Soft Boys' brilliant brand of quirky, psychedelic rock was largely ignored in its time, that time being the post-punk days of the late '70s/early '80s. And while the band's individual members later went on to enjoy a certain level success—Robyn Hitch c o c k as an endearing rock'n'roll eccentric and guitarist Kimberely Rew as a hitmaker with Katrina & The Waves—there was always something rather special about the Soft Boys material.
That's why their long-belated reunion was one of the musical highpoints of last year. Thanks to a welcome reissue of their classic swan song Underwater Moonlight, the band were finally able to mount a proper tour in support of an album they'd released twenty years earlier. Like they say, better late then never.
The tour was a smashing success, with Hitchcock and co. robustly reconnecting with their old material. And if that wasn't fab enough, the band one-upped themselves by debuting some fantastic new tunes and dangling the tantalizing proposition of a new studio release. That new album, Nextdoorland, is now a reality and it's better than it has any right to be.
In a way, Nextdoorland may as well have been the next Robyn Hitchcock album. But the feisty interplay of the band turns what would have been another batch of good Hitchcock tunes into great ones. One thing that's immediately evident is that guitarists Hitchcock and Rew were born to trade licks. Their intertwining solos at the end of "Mr. Kennedy," build to an amazing climax and form the centerpiece of the album. Morris Windsor and Matthew Seligman's rhythm section hardly slacks either.
Throughout Nextdoorland, Robyn Hitchcock the songwriter is up to his old tricks, matching delicious pop hooks with his decidedly weird lyrical obsessions. Just compare a line off Underwater Moonlight's “Insanely Jealous:” I'm insanely jealous of the hairs in your bath, with one from Nextdoorland's "My Mind Is Connected To Your Heart:” I love your tennis court and the hair that fell on it was yours. After the show-stopping “Mr. Kennedy,” the album's other epic is the off-kilter and frankly difficult “Strings.” More straightforward pleasures are to be had in tracks like "Sudden Town,” which has a great '60s vibe to it, and "La Cherite,” one of Hitchcock's prettiest tunes.
While reunion albums have a tendency to be dispirited cash-ins, Nextdoorland is good enough to make you hope that its follow-up won't take another twenty-one years to arrive.
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