June 1–8, 2000

disc quicks|rock/pop

XTC

(IDEA/TVT)

Timing was never one of XTC’s strengths. It’s a bit late for fortyish English eccentrics to try breezy, radio-friendly guitar-pop — when most radio isn’t really interested in it — especially coming after their orchestral turn on last year’s Apple Venus Volume 1. But Wasp Star isn’t that much of a departure for the duo. To its credit, it sounds like the more commercial moments from weightier offerings like Oranges and Lemons (1989) and Nonsuch (1992). Inside the chunky guitar riffs of the first two tracks, "Playground" and "Stupidly Happy," Andy Partridge is still constructing melodies like jungle gyms in their twisty logic. "We’re All Light" may have a lithe electro-beat, but those luscious vocal harmonies are pure XTC. Partridge strikes pop pay dirt with "My Brown Guitar" — psychedelia with sex substituting for drugs — and the insanely upbeat "I’m the Man Who Murdered Love." Meanwhile, two of bassist Colin Moulding’s offerings, "In Another Life" and "Standing in for Joe," show that there’s more than mere charm to his songs. Wasp Star is not as cohesive as Volume 1, and departed lead guitarist/keyboardist Dave Gregory is missed a bit. But Partridge and Moulding write with such passion and invention, the two often seem to fall in love with melodies as they’re singing them. And they show up all those cocky pop upstarts — Ricky, Britney and Belle & Sebastian alike — at their own game.

—Michael Pelusi