Album: English Settlement
XTC are definitely one of the bands I've come round to later in life. I've long had the brilliant single Making Plans For Nigel in my iTunes collection, and having bought the Drums & Wires LP (1979) on the strength of that, I was (just a little) disappointed. Then I got round to listening to English Settlement and Skylarking and I was (more than a little) impressed. By the time of their fifth LP, English Settlement, XTC were in a transitional phase, moving away from muscular post-punk rhythms into a more pastoral sound reminiscent of the Kinks' Village Green. There is definitely a lineage of lyrical, English songwriters instigated by The Kinks and tracing a line through Madness (Rise & Fall nearly made this list), XTC, the Smiths and finally Blur and the Arctic Monkeys. All these groups have been unafraid to parade their strong regional accents and, though some may find Andy Partridge's vocals mannered, the fact he's from Swindon and doesn't look like a conventional pop star makes XTC's success all the more remarkable. Again, John Peel was largely responsible for the band's commercial breakthrough in Britain (see video below), and XTC later built on this success by nurturing a loyal, strong following in the States thanks to college radio.
As with many double LPs, there are highs & lows on the album, and the first two sides are stronger than the last two, in my opinion, but overall the balance is pretty good. Opener Runaways gets the record off to an energetic start, and is one of several tracks on the album written by Colin Moulding; choosing to start English Settlement with a song about kids running away from home might seem an odd choice but somehow it works. Ball & Chain segues seamlessly and its sound draws heavily on 60s British pop, with lyrics bemoaning the concretisation ("the diggers & the towers & cranes") of the countryside. The ambitious arrangements on Sense Working Overtime and Jason & the Argonauts are impressive, and the joyous first song gave XTC a Top 10 single in early 1982. Terry Chambers' brilliant drumming keeps many of the songs anchored as Andy Partridge goes off on lyrical flights. No Thugs In Our House is one of the album's highlights and almost a sequel to Making Plans For Nigel, again its theme is controlling parents, but this time those who see no evil in their children (in this case, racist son Graham). Yacht Dance slows the pace with an acoustic song before another album highlight, All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late), a song about growing old & cold and trying to recover your spark ("Life's like a jigsaw, you get the straight bits / but there's plenty missing in the middle"). Side 2 gets off to a terrible start with Melt Your Guns, but Leisure is an improvement, exploring Thatcher's Britain and redundancy (the influence on Blur is pretty clear). After a few more lows (Fly On The Wall, Down In The Cockpit), the album does end on a high with English Roundabout and Snowman. Again, this is a double LP that with some pruning could have been a masterpiece, but no other album captures XTC's unique musical range better than English Settlement, warts & all.
Artist: XTC
Born: Swindon, Wiltshire
Released: February 1982
Genre: Indie Rock
Influenced: Prefab Sprout, Crowded House, They Might Be Giants, Blur, Vampire Weekend
XTC are definitely one of the bands I've come round to later in life. I've long had the brilliant single Making Plans For Nigel in my iTunes collection, and having bought the Drums & Wires LP (1979) on the strength of that, I was (just a little) disappointed. Then I got round to listening to English Settlement and Skylarking and I was (more than a little) impressed. By the time of their fifth LP, English Settlement, XTC were in a transitional phase, moving away from muscular post-punk rhythms into a more pastoral sound reminiscent of the Kinks' Village Green. There is definitely a lineage of lyrical, English songwriters instigated by The Kinks and tracing a line through Madness (Rise & Fall nearly made this list), XTC, the Smiths and finally Blur and the Arctic Monkeys. All these groups have been unafraid to parade their strong regional accents and, though some may find Andy Partridge's vocals mannered, the fact he's from Swindon and doesn't look like a conventional pop star makes XTC's success all the more remarkable. Again, John Peel was largely responsible for the band's commercial breakthrough in Britain (see video below), and XTC later built on this success by nurturing a loyal, strong following in the States thanks to college radio.
As with many double LPs, there are highs & lows on the album, and the first two sides are stronger than the last two, in my opinion, but overall the balance is pretty good. Opener Runaways gets the record off to an energetic start, and is one of several tracks on the album written by Colin Moulding; choosing to start English Settlement with a song about kids running away from home might seem an odd choice but somehow it works. Ball & Chain segues seamlessly and its sound draws heavily on 60s British pop, with lyrics bemoaning the concretisation ("the diggers & the towers & cranes") of the countryside. The ambitious arrangements on Sense Working Overtime and Jason & the Argonauts are impressive, and the joyous first song gave XTC a Top 10 single in early 1982. Terry Chambers' brilliant drumming keeps many of the songs anchored as Andy Partridge goes off on lyrical flights. No Thugs In Our House is one of the album's highlights and almost a sequel to Making Plans For Nigel, again its theme is controlling parents, but this time those who see no evil in their children (in this case, racist son Graham). Yacht Dance slows the pace with an acoustic song before another album highlight, All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late), a song about growing old & cold and trying to recover your spark ("Life's like a jigsaw, you get the straight bits / but there's plenty missing in the middle"). Side 2 gets off to a terrible start with Melt Your Guns, but Leisure is an improvement, exploring Thatcher's Britain and redundancy (the influence on Blur is pretty clear). After a few more lows (Fly On The Wall, Down In The Cockpit), the album does end on a high with English Roundabout and Snowman. Again, this is a double LP that with some pruning could have been a masterpiece, but no other album captures XTC's unique musical range better than English Settlement, warts & all.
Comments