xtc: the xtc place
the list:
Okay, now it gets hard:
The Big Express - A lot of people seem to find how mechanical this album seems to be off-putting, but I like it. I don't think there's a bad song on this entire album, although I think
the early demo and
the acoustic version of "Train Running Low on Soul Coal" are both much better than the final, album version. The album version seems to be mainly about speed, whereas the two other versions I linked to show off a great groove created by the chord riff and a rather beautiful B section starting with "Think I'm going south for the winter...". You also get a bit of a hint of where the band was heading to next - the Dukes - with the psychedelic-ish-ness of "Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her" and "I Remember the Sun", the former being one of my favorites from the band. "You're the Wish You Are I Had" is also another favorite, just a blast of pure joy in the form of a pop song. To me, "the Everyday Story of Smalltown" seems like Andy pulling out his occasional Ray Davies songwriting approach. "All You Pretty Girls" is some sort of magnificent, catchy sea shanty, and "Shake You Donkey Up" is like if you sang "All You Pretty Girls", but changed the subject of affection to a donkey. Yes, that seems like a reasonable way to describe a song. "I Bought Myself a Liarbird", "Wake Up", and "Reign of Blows" are good, too. "This World Over" is a bit different from the rest of the songs in that it's a bit more contemplative and slower, focusing on the fallout of a nuclear war. I seem to like this album more than most.
Drums and Wires/
Black Sea - I found that I had to double these albums up. Much like I see
Sunflower and
Surf's Up,
Rubber Soul and
Revolver (George Harrison did, too), I see these two albums as sort of a part 1 and part 2, part 2 always being the darker album for some reason.
Drums and Wires is a really, really great new wave record infused with some reggae touches. It bounces all over the place in terms of sound and subject matter, never settling, but also never hitting a sour moment. The only quibble I have is that I don't much care for the chorus of "Scissor Man", but that's pretty minimal, right?
Oranges and Lemons was my first XTC album, and I was disappointed, but I decided to listen to this one, and I was immediately hooked. From the very beginning, you can already see the contrast between the two songwriters, Colin writing the superb, radio-friendly "Making Plans for Nigel" and Andy following it up with the quirky, colorful "Helicopter". My two favorites are "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty" and "Complicated Game". The first, "When You're Near Me", is a lovely song about the effects that someone that you're attracted to has on you, like being unable to think or breathe properly, being able to stand, and being unable to sleep at night. Everyone's had that person that turns them into a "spineless, wobbly jellyfish"? Then, "Complicated Game" is just a mangled beast of a song, using dissonance and images of futility to finish off the album. Brilliant. This album is packed with musical ideas, and I'm surprised they were able to make the next album after using all of them here.
Drums and Wires was made by a rejuvenated band (thank you, Dave), and
Black Sea was made by the road-hardened version of that band. Beginning the album with the two songs that are most single-worthy, it would be hard for the rest of the album to follow it up. "Respectable Street" shows the first influences of the Kinks into his songwriting (also showing up in "Paper & Iron"), and Colin manages to continue his streak of single-writing by throwing in an immensely catchy tune. After this, the album becomes much more reliant on utilizing odd rhythms, quite easy to see immediately on "Living Through Another Cuba" and continuing through the love songs "Love at First Sight" and "Rocket from a Bottle", two more of my favorites. I really like their quirky, young-love songs. "No Language in Our Lungs" seems to point way forward a bit, predicting the weirder, darker experiments of Mummer, and "Burning with Optimism's Flames" looks back and is most like
Drums and Wires, with a very rhythmic, almost-rapping singing from Andy. "Towers of London" is perhaps the greatest song of their early career. It just is. The first few times I heard "Sgt. Rock", I dug it, but I think I've soured to it over time. Really cool rhythm, though. Then comes "Travels in Nihilon", featuring eerie lyrics and something along the lines of chanting by Andy, it's a surprisingly dark way to finish out the record. This monster of a song is pushed forward by a repeated drum patten and nimble bass lines, while Andy and Dave's guitar create a racket an absolute racket. I think it's the longest song they've released.
Psonic Psunspot - Man, I love this record. It's interesting that this record was supposed to begin with what is now side 2, changed due to Virgin's insistence that a record begin with the "hit single", in this case "Vanishing Girl". A good jangle pop, Hollies-type thing with harmonies, melodies, bass lines, lyrics... It's got it all. However, one thing that I really can't imagine is
not ending this album with "Pale and Precious". Apparently Dave asked Andy if he was really sure that he wanted to throw the song away on this record instead of using it for XTC, and I can see the concern (although, Andy later came up with "Chalkhills and Children, so there ya go). "Collideascope" is a great song (my goodness, that hook is so good), but why would you close on that? But, thankfully, the side change resulted in placing "Pale and Precious" at its rightful position of closing song. The song is absolutely beautiful - Andy's lyrics paint a gorgeous picture and the organ and the melody/singing are achingly heartfelt. Then comes the gradual layering of Brian Wilson techniques - the clip-clopping wood block, the "bah-baba-ba-bah" backing vocals, the unexpected chord changes, sleigh bells - only to simultaneously combine into something breathtaking. The bridge, of course, is a well-studied recreation of the Beach Boys mid-60s hits (especially "Help Me, Rhonda"), but the real thing to pay attention to is the layered, perfectly mixing melodies sung by the band members. To finish the song, Andy takes it back to the beginning, but this time with an altered arrangement, a final nod to Brian Wilson.
Another victim of the aforementioned side-switch is the story that, while originally probably didn't make a whole lot of sense, makes even less so now. Probably an attempt at doing an
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake-thing, it's about a little girl who opens a suitcase filled with fruit and meets a crane fly at a train depot... or something. The opening to "You're My Drug" also makes sense as the opening song, with it's fading-in, rhythmic opening and ear-catching melodies. It's follow up, "Shiny Cage" is a shameless rewrite of a certain Beatles' song named "I'm Only Sleeping". That, and "the Affiliated", a song that doesn't quite fit here (although, it is a good song with some interesting chord progressions), and are probably my two lowest-ranked songs for this album. Well, never mind, they're going to have to fight "You're a Good Man, Albert Brown" for the bottom spot. It's not terrible and I suppose you have to give them a pass, as this is a part of what they were recreating, but this is just a bit of fun in the midst of some excellent songs. "Have You Seen Jackie" and "Little Lighthouse" are both solid, fun, psych-recreations and "Little Lighthouse" is also actually quite good. The psychedelic pictures that Andy's able to create with his words are dead-on, as are the effects-heavy - and sometimes backwards - guitars and the brass lines in the chorus. My personal favorite on this record is "Brainiac's Daughter". Unusual chords and undeniably wonderful melodies are what create this psych-pop song. Oh, and also an ocarina solo over someone blowing some air into a straw in water and creating bubbles. I love every bit of this song. This is a better record than most psychedelic records from the 60s.
And then the Dukes were finished. Supposedly, they were carried on in
Skylarking and
Oranges and Lemons, but I don't really buy that. It's not the same. I've read things from Andy about more planned Dukes projects, like a pre-psychedelia merseybeat Dukes, a glam rock album, and a rock opera. Wikipedia tells me they're called the Mersey Dukes, the Stratosphear Band, and the
Great Royal Jelly Scandal, respectively. Then there's also the bubblegum pop album, half-completed apparently, but I hope we get to hear all of it soon. Andy's said that there are some Duke experiments that were happening during the making of
English Settlement (not the drunk session) that will be someday released on the deluxe edition.
Skylarking is my number one. Review forthcoming.