Getting People Over the Beatles: A Series Examining the Greats of British (and UK) Pop Music (part 58)

by Jamie
If one adheres to the notion that a young Pete Townshend puts forth in the Who’s seminal documentary film, The Kids Are Alright that, if you were to take a Beatles track from 1966 or earlier recorded in stereo with the vocals in one channel and the instruments in the other and switch the vocal channel off, the other side (which just contains the instruments obviously) was “flipping’ lousy” then you’re probably already as enraptured as I am with today’s pick. Now, understandably Townshend (and I too) understand(s) that removing the vocals/lyrics to any largely lyrical based musical composition, especially a band as adapt at vocal harmony as the Fab Four were, is missing a large point of the music you’re scrutinizing. But the larger point remains somewhat between the lines, or perhaps in an altogether different tangent: what is the importance of the musical backing in a very pop arena? A form so dominated by singers and lyrics.

In certain bands, like the aforementioned early period of the Beatles, the lushness of much of the Beach Boys harmonies, and the heartbreaking Soul acts (to count just the three most glaringly easy examples), etc. the vocal performance is largely the reason the music is so highly regarded and respected (rightfully so). Some great pop bands have competent to highly proficient instrument players, but at some point when this side of things starts to take more of an emphasis then the vocal/lyrics, you get into the touchy debate of what is a Rock versus a Pop act. Perhaps no band better straddled that line then the highly prolific, ingenious outfit that adorned itself with just three letters: Wiltshire’s own XTC.

Listening to XTC now they are really a marvel to behold, so much so that I have no problem understanding why they’ve never been embraced like they so obviously should have been. They are the singularly unique juxtaposition of a band so competent and virtuoso on their instruments that they rival the most technical of technical progressive Rock bands (think Rush, Dream Theater, or a handful of more metal leaning musos that are too numerous to list here), but also as adapt at Pop melody that the catchy cleverness of their tunes rival those of anyone; the Beatles, the Kinks, the Smiths (etc) included. And, as a bit of an aside, if I’ve taken to enough Porter I will assert that XTC is the greatest guitar pop band the small island of England has yet produced. But my drinking habits, and what I’ll say while taken in, are not of concern here.

XTC started like so many other bands of the late 70′s in England’s burgeoning New Wave, full of frenzied drum patterns, angular guitar parts, and off beat lyrical subjects. But those first two albums are still pretty fantastic for what they are, and there are countless examples of the brilliance that was to come (I’ve previously shown one, a live reading of ‘Statute of Liberty‘ which proves they are on the short list of tightest bands to ever play, just drop dead phenomenal). But once their third record, Drums and Wires appeared showing a slightly slowed down tempo with increased experimentation and a turn to more socially conscious lyrics, did XTC fully hit their ‘makers of masterpieces’ stride, and it would continue for about a decade, their next 6 or 7 albums being of absolute Pop masterclass (a streak like that is an easy tell of all the greats; the Beatles saw theirs from Help to breakup, the Who’s was Sell Out to By Numbers, the Kinks was their baroque period of Face to Face to Muswell Hillbillies, the Smiths was their entire career roughly, the Stones was Out of Our Heads to Exile [with a few blips in between], etc.) But for my money, it’s their fourth album, the one right after Drums and Wires, 1980′s Black Sea that shows the full range of their considerable gifts.

The album begins as almost a statement of arrogance. They seemingly take the most angular, clunky rhythm and produce a tale of seething British Kitchen Sink neighborhood politics complete with abortions and noisy automobile doors (and call it generically ‘Respectable Street’). It’s a brag: “yeah we’ll pick the worst lemons, but we have chops like you have never heard… just wait… we’ll produce the best lemonade you’ve ever had”. And, god damn it, once the bass lines zooms in for the second or third time you realize they’ve done just that. By the songs ending passages there have been several slight tempo changes, melody shifts, innovative harmonies and you realize that every song here is probably going to have an albums worth of ideas.

‘General & Majors’ has a wider scope then most of the album politically (a great synopsis from allmusic; “XTC continue on with the big drum sound of Drums and Wires, adding more polish and an even heavier-hitting approach for Black Sea — their arrangements are fuller and they rock harder than ever before. Where Drums and Wires implied social commentary, Black Sea more directly addresses sociopolitical concerns, handling them not strictly in a theoretical sense, but rather showing a human response to the circumstances.”) but still works remarkably well. ‘Living Through Another Cuba’ is one of their most well know statements—pop or politically— and its Cuban flavored steel drum patterns are as ethnically memorable and interesting as anything in the history of Anglo pop/rock drumming (of the top of my head Topper’s epic ‘Straight to Hell’ bits are the only things that seem on par). One almost assumes that when it was featured live the band could toil away on that groove for 15 minutes if they wanted to. I know I certainly would’ve remained in rapt attention.

‘Love at First Sight’ and the brilliantly urgent ‘Rocket from a Bottle’ essentially nail down the love song staple that any band looking to be considered among the Pop greats would have to do, it’s a prerequisite if anything. ‘Rocket…” is especially inventive; from its backwards solos and numerous effects laden guitar parts and militant tight drum patterns to a clever hook about what seeing a “pretty little girl” does to the lads. ‘No Language In Our Lungs’ is the most underrated song on the record, perhaps their career. It’s a choppy tail about underdogs until about 1:30 in where it goes in several directions, most of them incredibly subtle only detachable by a headphone listen where all the strange channels at play in the studio can be properly sifted through. It’s certainly a song that deserves a listen to more then additional babble from me to understand its countless charms.

‘Towers of London’ is XTC at their eccentric English best. It’s quirky (again, there are strange and inventive melodies on top of strange innovative melodies working as a rubber band stretching of brilliance on display), sly and subversive, muscular, and features both a tricky cool keyboard and guitar solo during its break. ‘Paper and Iron (Notes and Coin)’ is a great follow up then, as it’s a fair bit English and eccentric as well, and features a similar social bent. It’s also the sound of XTC returning to their groove/angular earlier days again, but don’t be fooled— beneath all the bubbly, danceable movements there’s a bit of melancholy contemplation about careering.

‘Burning with Optimism’s Flames’ is a bit of lyric (and thus vocal) gymnastics seemingly with a feminist message. What is said is important as always, but here the real marvel is also how it’s said, and how many variations they’re able to wring from the songs ever changing tempos and structures. ‘Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)’ completes the albums gender politics being the male yin to ‘Burning’s female yang just discussed. It’s a more straightforward rocker, which probably meant it was destined for single release (it was Black Sea’s third single of four) and it succeeds admirably. ‘Travels in Nihilon’ is a great album closer, with its bass apocalypse rumble and endless walls of guitar feedback and precise tribal drum pattern assault. Once described as “deserving credit for experimenting with avant-pop yet never ignoring or undermining the song”, and I can’t agree more. I suppose I could disagree a tad, if only to say that that is an apt way to describe this entire album (or even entire catalog) not just single track. Here is a band constantly ready to rustle, scratch or search for nuggets. It’s quite amazing how much they uncovered in such a short time, and this isn’t even touching English Settlement that came next and is at least as brilliant as this one and a tad more experimental…

(a later cd edition would add ‘Smokeless Zone’, ‘Don’t Lose Your Temper’, and ‘The Somnambulist’ either at the albums tail end or strangely filtered throughout the albums original UK order. I have, as always, reviewed the album [and its track listing] as it originally appeared in the bands home country)

Happy listening, see you next week.

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