Waxworks:some Singles 1977-1982
XTC
Virgin Records, 1982
REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 11/24/1997
A few months ago, I wrote about how criminal it is that theBritish band XTC has been ignored in the United States. At thetime, I offered the album Oranges And Lemons as an example of their great work.
So far as I have seen, it doesn't look like there has been anincrease in sales of their albums... that, and I'm still waitingfor the telegrams of eternal thanks from Virgin and Geffen Records,so we'll try again. This time, we'll take a look at a collection oftheir early singles, Waxworks.
In one sense, it's amazing to hear how quickly Andy Partridgeand crew changed in just five short years. In 1977, XTC wasdefinitely a new-wave band who just happened to have a pop bend totheir music. (On some songs, like their first hit "This Is Pop?"it's sometimes hard to hear the pop aspect - which, at the time,was fine with the band.) But by 1982, XTC's musical style was wellon its way to the sound we're used to today - though the cynicismof Partridge (as heard on the classic hit "Dear God" - not on thisalbum - was still a few years away.)
What is amazing when you listen to Waxworks is that many of these songs you rarely - if ever - hear on the radio today. "Are You Receiving Me" from1978 is a slab of power pop that rivals anything that bands likeBlondie and Talking Heads were cranking out around the same time.One year later, "Life Begins At The Hop" proved that Partridge etal. were quickly mastering the genus of pop music. (In the defenseof some radio stations, you occasionally hear this one played - onesuch station is Chicago's legendary WXRT-FM.)
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