Rolling Stone Album Guide - XTC

This British combo took it upon itself to blend art-rock experimentation with factory-stamped pop hooks. At the height of punk, no less. Robot beats collide with short-circuited electronics on White Music; guitarist Andy Partridge gulps his way through shifty, intricate ditties like "Radios in Motion" and "This Is Pop." The latter title is sincere, or at least more so than "Dance Band." XTC flashes a real knack for crafty choruses on the nagging refrains of "Spinning Top" and "Statue of Liberty." Partridge and bassist Colin Moulding share songwriting chores; early on, Moulding's less-frequent work tends to be more precious and less compelling, though he'll eventually catch up. Keyboardist Barry Andrews swamps Go 2 in a sea of synthesized effluvia; only the telegraphic "Are You Receiving Me?" reaches dry land. With second guitarist Dave Gregory replacing Andrews, XTC tightens up its high-strung sonic consitituion -- almost to the breaking point -- on Drums and Wires. A delicious tension results: rather than busily herky-jerking around the room, the carefully packed sound pulls you into the group's cleverly skewed perspective. The songwriting is sharpened up, too; Moulding weighs in with two arresting uptempo highlights: "Life Begins at the Hop" and "Making Plans for Nigel." If Drums and Wires is all just a "Complicated Game," as Andy Partridge insists with particular urgency and eloquence at one point, then it's an endlessly fascinating one.

XTC steps back from the pop-fashion rat race after that; beginning with Black Sea, the influence of the psychedelic Beatles and the nostalgic Kinks looms imposingly large over the proceedings. Somewhat turgid, Black Sea finally gets over on the strength of politcally charged observations like "Towers of London" and "Generals and Majors." The next three albums are cluttered and fussy affairs, however, with only the occasional hook rising from the intellecutalized din: "Senses Working Overtime" on English Settlement holds up to the sterling standard of Waxworks: Some Singles 1977-82, but Partridge sounds woefully cynical (and nasal) on Mummer's "Funky Pop a Roll." After Mummer, XTC retired from live performing. With "The Everyday Story of Smalltown," from The Big Express, XTC nails one of its attempted Ray Davies-style set pieces, and points the way toward a more approachable form of studio wizardry.

Producer Todd Rundgren sweeps up the loose ends on Skylarking -- far and away the most immediately likable XTC music. Under his watchful eye, the group takes some of the failed motifs from the previous albums (espcially the rustic acoustic touches of Mummer) and applies them to less self-involved, more traditonal song forms. Both songwriters reveal a far warmer side than ever before; Moulding on the sly and sexy "Grass," Partridge on the hopeful "Earn Enough for Us." The acoustic-meets-electric epic "Dear God" posits XTC as the Great Lost Classic Rock band; in a world in which Moral Majority boycotts didn't exist, this cutting agnostic diatribe might've even become the group's first hit. Ah, wishful thinking: see what '60s-fixated rock albums from the '80s, even definitive ones like Skylarking, can do to your thought processes? In keeping with that authentic spirit, perhaps, the next XTC album (Oranges and Lemons) is a rambling, full-barreled return to witty indulgence. Rag & Bone Buffet delivers a groaning board of "rare cuts and leftovers" -- either a treasure trove or slow torture, depending on your taste. Psonic Psunspots (recorded under the name Dukes of Stratosphear) is XTC in acid-soaked hippie disguise; Chips from the Chocolate Fireball (also by DOS, 1988) collects all the cheerfully sloppy derivations from two previous releases: 25 O'Clock and Psonic Psunspot.

All original work is acknowledged as being the copyright of the originator.