Published on Jun 13, 1998
It’s sometimes hard to believe so much time passes between
reviews of certain artists here at “The Daily Vault”; I’m
constantly reminded just how long it’s been with my daily
excursions into the Pierce Archives (good morning, Mr. Jordan…
shall we dust Utah?).
Another thing that hits me often (besides dinnerware thrown at
my head by Mrs. Pierce) is how long it’s been since certain groups
have released any new studio material. One such band is XTC; I
can’t believe it’s been six years since
Nonsuch came out. (One wonders what the future of the band
is, with the recent departure of Dave Gregory from the fold.)
Andy Partridge and crew have been in a serious quandry: they’ve
been putting out a lot of quality albums that not a lot of people
have been buying. Most radio stations have all but ignored the band
– a damn shame, seeing how many songs they’ve had that would easily
fit into many different formats. And if any one of their works was
ready for prime time,
Nonsuch was it.
Opening up this fifteen-song epic, “The Ballad Of Peter
Pumpkinhead” is a backhanded slam against organized religion that
has a poppy, dance-all-night beat (courtesy of drummer Dave
Mattacks – who, if I remember right, has been a member of Jethro
Tull recently). Partridge’s vocals are in fine form on this track,
and is one of the best songs on the album. Other songs that
actually saw a little airplay (at least in Chicago, anyway) that
are just as strong are “The Disappointed” and “Dear Madam Barnum,”
which happens to be an addictively good song.
Sharing the lead vocal duties, Colin Moulding turns in some
strong performances as well. “The Smartest Monkeys,” a slap in the
face to the “civilized” society that won’t help the downtrodden,
benefits from powerful jangly guitar work, as well as Moulding’s
sarcastic “praise” of mankind. XTC also had to have learned
something positive from their experience with producer Todd
Rundgren back in their
Skylarking days; the synthesizer work on “My Bird Performs”
is hauntingly beautiful.
In fact, many of the songs on
Nonsuch are some of the strongest this band has ever
released. “Omnibus” catches your attention with its offbeat rhythm
and alluded to sexuality (“makes your Shakespeare hard”? “makes
your Union jack”? Hmm, wonder what Partridge is talkin’ about…),
while “Then She Appeared” shows its power in its softness.
The “masterpiece” of the album, “Rook,” is the first inkling
that Partridge (who proclaimed no existence of an Almighty on the
song “Dear God”) might have discovered some type of spirituality,
asking in the song if he does indeed have a soul that it be watched
over. (I once read an interview with Partridge where he said he
kept bursting into tears when he recorded the vocals.)
There are some clunkers on
Nonsuch, which prove when XTC were off their game, it was
pretty bad. “Bungalow” is a very weak song that could easily have
been cut, while “Humble Daisy” isn’t the best song to come into
after a rocker like “Dear Madam Barnum”.
Nonsuch is one album that, thanks to bargain-line releases,
is an album that’s worth the minor expense to experience. (Hell, I
paid full price in 1992, and I don’t regret it for a moment.) If
this album doesn’t get you interested in the music of Partridge et
al., then you need to have your head and ears examined. If this
turns out to be the final XTC album ever, they chose a hell of a
strong album to make their ezit with.