Search - Soft Boys :: Nextdoorland

Underwater Moonlight it's not...

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 09/27/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The years have been kind to Robyn Hitchcock. His early music with The Soft Boys sounds as fresh, vital and quirky as when it was first released over two decades ago. This reunion album made me a bit skeptical at first. You may not be able to go home again, but you can go next door and visit with the neighbors.Nextdoorland is full of the rocking charms we've come to expect from Hitchcock. What's more is that the performances by his band The Soft Boys is top notch. Kimberly Rew's guitar snarls and snaps alternating chords thick as a tree stump. His playing hasn't been this refreshing or challenging since his solo albums and early Katrina & The Waves where it was a lot more polished and, well, poppy. Poppy is OK but Rew has always been an interesting guitar player and capable of so much more. Hitchcock and the other Soft Boys bring out the best in him.The album is littered with a number of gems. Like a lot of Hitchcock solo albums, there's a fair amount of filler as well but the quality of the filler tracks is better than most artist's achieve in a lifetime. Always interesting as a solo artist, Hitchcock and The Soft Boys return with a strong album. It isn't Underwater Moonlight, nor is it meant to be. The starkness of that seminal album and the diy feel is evident in every track on Nowhereland.I'd also recommend picking up Kimberly Rew's latest solo album. Although it isn't as strong or compelling as Tunnel Into Summer, it's stocked with melodic, riff driven rock 'n' roll. Rew hasn't sounded this good in years and clearly his new found solo career has invigorated him."

Guaranteed to raise the hairs on your skin

wm | ...onward....thru the fog! | 10/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"
It's a Soft Boys album, but it sounds like the evolution of Robyn Hitchcock to me. He's been quoted as saying "when I make a record with a band, it turns out to be a Beatles record". I'd agree with that, but Beatles at their jammingest.



The twin lead guitar interplay between Robyn and Kimberly Rew is nothing short of breathtaking. The lyrics are signature Robyn Hitchcock surreal, but at one point, he eerily captures the strange and scary times we live in: "Evil is the new enemy / I wish I could say that I was just paranoid" (from "Strings").



The beauty of this CD is that Hitchcock and his band gracefully manages to walk the thin line between melodic pop and total, over the edge, into the abyss guitar freakout.



All in all, an excellent album, which will definitely stand the test of time."

Maybe it'll rain tonight

Garry Messick | Boynton Beach, FL USA | 05/13/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some might be disapointed that the Soft Boys' first album in 20 years isn't Underwater Moonlight jr. But to my ears, Nextdoorland is actually superior in some respects. For one thing, the band is playing better than ever. (Several tracks feature some terrific extended dual guitar interplay between Robyn Hitchcock and Kimberly Rew that's a bit reminiscent of Television, oddly enough.) There's real verve and energy in the sound and performances, and the songwriting is consistently engaging, featuring structures that never go where you think they will (a chorus comes in where you'd expect another verse, parts flow into parts without coming to a conventional chorus, songs that end in abrupt, unexpected eays, etc.). All in all, a triumphant return for Hitchcock and company."