In the UK the influences came primarily through the labels Mute Records and Rough Trade Records with the release of The Normal's "T.V.O.D."/"Warm Leatherette" single as Mute 001 in 1978 to tremendous influence across genres including punk.
Emerging in the late 1970s, the genre's early influences range from industrial music (Throbbing Gristle, Chrome, Cabaret Voltaire), European synthpunk (DAF, Liaisons Dangereuses, Portion Control), and electronic music (Kraftwerk).
The name supposedly refers to Howie Diamond's fighting with ex-member Ben Pollock's girlfriend, Lo (the couple later went on to form synthpunk group Hearts Revolution).
The Soft Moon's music covers a wide range of genres including EBM, Krautrock, synthpunk, psychedelia, world music and darkwave.