The Soft Boys circa 1980
Photo: Matador Records

AUSTIN, Texas — Foot soldiers of the old punk/new wave insurgency of the late '70s and early '80s have always held in their hearts a particular, er, soft spot for England's Soft Boys, the more-than-slightly cracked power-pop quartet that sprang, "Alien"-like, from the fertile — albeit mostly cracked — mind of singer/guitarist Robyn Hitchcock. Fitting, then, that they should suddenly re-form to tour in support of a reissue of their 1980 album, Underwater Moonlight, long regarded as a classic of sorts — or, to put it more accurately, a classic out-of-sorts.

Hitchcock was still a young man when he wrote such hummable relationship-bashing songs as "Insanely Jealous," "He's a Reptile" and "I Wanna Destroy You." Now that Hitchcock is 20 years older and looking positively Peter Cook-ian, with his hair on the salt side of the shaker, songs such as "Old Pervert" ("Let me show you what's in my fridge") make far more sense than perhaps they ever needed to.

Kicking off the reunion tour Saturday night at the South by Southwest music festival, drummer Morris Windsor, bassist Matthew Seligman and, most significantly, second guitarist Kimberley Rew (also in silver-gray-hair mode and sporting a semi-delusional, fixed smile throughout the band's performance; maybe he was afraid someone was going to yell out for "Walking on Sunshine") provided the instrumental power and pop, with the kind of jangling, jagged-edged arrangements that made them cult-worthy to begin with.

There were those in the crowd at the full but not jammed Austin Music Hall who seemed to be disappointed that the group's cerebral rather than physically draining performance of this music from 1980 hadn't actually made them feel like it was 1980 again. To which all we can say is that it's important to remember to remember that the Move once had a hit in the U.K. with a song called "I Can Hear the Grass Grow." They spend their energy differently over there.

• The Soft Boys
• Robyn Hitchcock

Jurassic 5
Photo: Interscope

When the electronica revolution hit Austin, Texas' South By Southwest festival four years ago, it was hard to picture how anonymous DJ culture was going to coexist with four nights of indie rock, Americana and roots music.

But now, even though the electronica invasion has faded somewhat from public consciousness, you're almost as likely to see a rapper or button-pushing mixer during the fest as you are a standup bass player or string-tie-wearin' Tex-Mex combo.

When the 14th annual music gathering kicks off Wednesday, it will have the usual wide variety of acts — 1,000 total. But as far as creative director Brent Grulke is concerned, at this point beats and boots are just business as usual in this music Mecca.

"The interaction between electronic music and hip-hop now represents a really significant part of the festival in a way that was virtually nonexistent a few years ago," said Grulke, who has been involved with the festival every year of its existence.

Part music-industry confab, part band showcase and all about schmoozing, SXSW is the kind of place where you can see ya'llternative singer/songwriter Sally Timms playing just a few doors down from ghetto tech star DJ Assault.

Its 8,000-plus registered attendees will descend on the college town and state capital to stumble from venue to venue, drink beer, eat barbecue and check out panels on such topics as, "How Do You Publicize a Mike Watt in a Britney Spears World?" "It's not just the numbers [of hip-hop groups] involved," Grulke said. "We now have very established talent that performs, we have two of our largest venues, Stubb's and the Austin Music Hall, with entire nights dedicated to hip-hop this year." Among the big names on tap for this year are twangy singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams, who will debut some of the material from her upcoming album, Broken Butterflies, (due in the spring) and the Black Crowes, in town to preview songs from their upcoming album, Lions (May 8).

Also performing are hip-hoppers Jurassic 5, the Liks and Black Eyed Peas; local rockers Fastball; experimental turntablist DJ Spooky; and a rare show from ex-Tina Turner hubby Ike Turner with his Ike Turner Revue.

Psychedelic popster Robyn Hitchcock will head up a reunited version of his late-'70s psych-pop band the Soft Boys, and Juliana Hatfield will take the stage for a reunion with her mid-'80s Boston pop rock group the Blake Babies.

Other acts performing on more than 40 stages include bluegrass star Ricky Skaggs, Los Angeles rock 'n' soul act the Bellrays, arty poppers the New Pornographers, Japanese pop punkers Ex-Girl, Canadian live house band the New Deal, turntablists X-ecutioners, world beat star Thomas Mapfumo, Latin all-star band Los Super Seven and Los Angeles punk rockers Texas Terri & the Stiff Ones.

Grulke said the festival also will feature one of the biggest slates to date of world music acts. Joining such international rock bands as Aterciopelados (Colombia), Coccoon Pit (Japan), the Gift (Portugal) and Yao (China) will be more than 70 other acts spanning the globe, including Moroccan reggae group Sawt el Atlas, world beat singer Henri Dikongue (Cameroon), Hungary's DJ Pozsi and hip-hoppers Pepe Deluxe (Finland).

SXSW's star-making mythos has been overstated in the past, but it is a good opportunity for bands to get in front of what is arguably one of the biggest concentrations of U.S. music media. No pressure, right? Just imagine if it was among your first-ever U.S. performances. That's the case for English hip-hop/punk group Brassy, who will have played just five shows in this country before unleashing their Digital-Hardcore-meets-Luscious-Jackson sound on the media elite Friday night.

"I don't know anything about it," said lead singer/guitarist Muffin Spencer, 32, an expat American who said she left the U.S. 14 years ago because she thought British bands were more interesting. "We met with our former publishing company and there was a little old man there who said it [SXSW] is a place to go and get smashed on tequila, which sounds fine." Spencer, younger sister of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion leader Jon Spencer, said she thinks the festival will be a good chance for critics who might have missed the recent U.S. release of the band's full-length debut, Got It Made, to check out their energetic live show. The 17-track album features such break-beat pop as "Work It Out" and the band's electro-punk anthem "No Competition." Grulke said one thing that won't be as prominent in the festival's sprawling trade-show area this year is the proliferation of dot-com booths that sprung up like weeds last year. "A lot of those companies that didn't know what their business agendas were are gone," Grulke said.

• Jurassic 5
• DJ Assault
• The Mekons
• Lucinda Williams
• The Black Crowes

The Soft Boys, the influential English psych-pop band that launched the career of singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, will reunite for the first time in 20 years for a short tour in March.

According to a representative from Matador Records, Hitchcock, guitarist Kimberley Rew, bassist Matthew Seligman and drummer Morris Windsor will begin the tour on March 17 during the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. On March 13, Matador will re-release the Soft Boys' 1980 classic, Underwater Moonlight.

Unlike many of their contemporaries in the punk era, the Soft Boys embraced the influence of Pink Floyd, particularly the band's early, whimsical phase with frontman Syd Barrett. The Soft Boys formed in 1976, and culled an impressive cult until their demise in 1981. Such bands as R.E.M. have cited Hitchcock and the Soft Boys as influences. Hitchcock has recorded 15 albums since the breakup of the Soft Boys, including 1990's Eye and 1999's Jewels for Sophia. He has often been accompanied on tour and recordings by Windsor and Seligman as the Egyptians. Rew, who founded Katrina and the Waves ("Walking on Sunshine") after the Soft Boys, has joined Hitchcock onstage sporadically.

Of the three albums the band recorded, aficionados consider Underwater Moonlight the Boys' pinnacle. The reissue, which will be the only commercially available Soft Boys record in the United States, will include eight bonus tracks, among them "He's a Reptile," a single recorded during the original Moonlight sessions but left off the album. Additionally, a disc comprising rehearsal sessions from 1979 and 1980 will be included in the reissue.

• The Soft Boys