English Settlement

by

XTC

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"English Settlement" is nothing short of brilliant. Guitars ring as the chords arc upward; insistent, arousing drumbeats backdrop Andy Partridge's gracefully-soaring vocals ("All Of A Sudden [It's Too Late]") which then assume a driven, frenetic edge ("No Thugs In Our House") before settling down to give you the elegant "Yacht Dance", then getting you up out of your seat again with "Melt The Guns" and "It's Nearly Africa". With this CD, it seems as if XTC have created a musical panoply of just about any and every mood a modern pop group could create. The wealth of creativity that has always existed in this band is immediately obvious even to listeners just taking their first tastes of the boys from Swindon.

"English Settlement" was perhaps the work that put Andy Partridge on the same song-writing level as Elvis Costello. Colin Moulding, too, the group's bassist and other song-writer, holds his own here as well. There's literally been no one like them before or since.

No matter what mood I'm in or where I am, if someone suggests putting this on the CD player, I never say, "No."

If you love XTC, this CD will be uppermost in your collection. If you're just starting out, after you've sampled "Upsy Daisy Assortment", try "English Settlement". You'll be enchanted; you'll be hooked; you'll wonder why the hell you're listening to anyone else.

The world needs more XTC.

No doubt a huge shock when it came out, "English Settlement" finds XTC abandoning the punk, ska and new wave trappings of their early records for something wholly different-- 12 string guitars, pastoral framings and midtempos dominate this sprawling double album that points way to the future of the band.

At its best, the album proves to be clever quirky and thoroughly English pop songs-- opener "Runaways" (written by bassist Colin Moulding) features jangly acoustic guitars and a rolling rhythm that proves to be hot yet tame, Andy Partridge's "Senses Working Overtime" recesses the ska influences on the early material deep within a building, rhythmic number with a catchy chorus that proved to be the band's biggest hit and "All Of the Sudden (It's Too Late)" features a delicate and lovely melody and a serene and gentle sound but with a prodding and insistent bassline providing foil for the rest. And mixed in the middle is the stirring "Jason and the Argonauts", filled with churning acoustic guitars, driven drums, and a calm and developed vocal with great harmonies, it's a huge leap forward in arranging for the band.

The problem is though that all those songs are at the beginning of the album-- much of the rest of it suffers from being a overlong (even at four minutes as in "Yacht Dance"), underdeveloped ("Leisure") or just blending into the background ("Knuckle Down"). And on occasion, the dedication to acoustic sounds weakens the piece (the otherwise brilliant and quirky "No Thugs in Our House", full of energy and venom, would have benefitted from some noise and distortion, likewise "Melt the Guns" and its quirky sound would have benefitted from a bit more power behind it) and when the band does opt for electric instruments, it proves to be detrimental (Moulding's "Fly on the Wall" has this irritating electric synth line even if the rest of the piece is superb).

This reissue has been remastered and sounds crisp and clear-- remarkably in this case, this level of clarity may be a bit of a detriment, it has a habit of exposing some of the thinness of the arrangements (for example, "Down in the Cockpit" ends up sounding like a throwback rather than a neat, jaunty electric pop song, because the clarity of the recording exposes how its thin ska-tinged arrangement sits next to the swirling acoustics from earlier in the album). Nonetheless, the sonic upgrade is worthwhile.

For all my complaints about it, "English Settlement" is a fairly enjoyable album, but it was clearly a transition, and with a piece as strong as "Mummer" around the corner, it's hard to consider this one without that. It was a brave step, but largely it's a transition album. Some folks love it, but for me, both its predecessor ("Black Sea") and successor ("Mummer") far outstrip it.