XTC
Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume Two)
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XTC
Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume Two)
TVT, 2000
RiYL: Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Blur |
But the moral victory was not without its casualties: during the hiatus the band lost multi-instrumentalist Dave Gregory (a member of XTC for 15 years), reducing the ranks to two. Partridge and Moulding built up stores of songs over the decade that remained unrecorded until getting signed to American label TVT. Armed with a large batch of tunes, the duo decided that their bounty fit well into two categories -- orchestral and electric -- and decided to record and release two separately focused volumes.
Wasp Star is the second edition of Apple Venus, and its boisterous, melodic rock is invigorating to hear from a storm-weathered, 24-year old band. The classic signs of XTC are here: smart pop arrangements, witty ironic twists, beds of harmonies, and a touch of that sarcastic Swindon attitude. The pastoral mood of Vol. One lurks in the corners of Wasp Star, but the latter is decidedly more conventional in a rock instrumentation sense.
Electric guitar riffs drive many of Wasp Star's songs, including flashy opener "Playground," which has to rank among Partridge's best creations. The hook-laden tune uses a schoolyard playground as a parallel to "the big square world," as girls run off to ride other boys' bikes and bullies pick fights with the protagonist. Partridge utters a bitter theme statement in the final verse: "School is out, but never over / and that's the only lesson you can learn."
Partridge went through a messy divorce prior to the release of Apple Venus Vol. One, and some of the personal lyric content on that record has bled over onto Wasp Star. But for every "Wounded Horse" ("Well I bit out my own tongue / just like a wounded horse / when I found out you'd been riding / another man"), he includes something like "Stupidly Happy," an almost irony-free, giddy-with-new-love tune. The bouncy "We're All Light" is basically an elaborate pick-up line, the narrator trying to court a young lovely by simplifying existentialism ("Don't you know / 'bout a zillion years ago, some stars sneezed / now they're paging you in reception ... so you won't mind if I kiss you now").
First single "The Man Who Murdered Love" almost seems like Partridge's personal confession after years of writing bitter pop songs about being slighted by the fairest emotion. The composer encounters Love personified in a bad state and throws the final straw on his back ("He was begging on his bended knee / for me to pull him from his misery / hadn't worked at all this century / said I'd do a job for all humanity").
Moulding takes the reins for three tunes and seems content to revel in his George Harrison-esque role. His "In Another Life" and "Standing In For Joe" have a pleasant chugging tempo and a much more subtle lyrical approach than Partridge's fare. "Boarded Up" is a simple, desolate tune describing the decaying fate of XTC's industrial hometown of Swindon, England.
Wasp Star doesn't make quite as striking an impression as Apple Venus Vol. One, but it's a crucial complement, assuring that XTC can not only still crank out great albums, they can still rock. It's very refreshing that these guys are still around at the turn of the century, and their twelfth album is a tasty addition to their catalog.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.