XTC
Drums And Wires

THE REVIEW

Despite a classic like "Skylarking", my personal opinion is that the most significant work of that perfect pop machine called XTC was "Drums & Wires". This is due to a greater freshness and pyrotechnics, in addition to being incidentally among the peaks of new wave. In fact, it was released in a magical year, 1979, contributing decisively to shaping that climate.

The main merit of Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding was to bring a sublime pop vision ("This is pop!", they sang in the full "no future" climate) during a time of epochal sonic upheavals. This did not translate into relatively harmless tunes, as that joker Scaruffi writes. Rather, it resulted in malignant and complex melodies, albeit irresistibly catchy, embedded in an increasingly sophisticated musical fabric, capable of restoring dignity to the Beatles-esque legacy—ranging from the fantasy in the arrangements to the originality of the writing—even in the punk era.
"Drums & Wires" is impregnated to the core with the new wave spirit, particularly in the production booth work of “future omnipresent” Steve Lillywhite: whose tricks, that would later make his productions famous, start to be felt, such as the stark emphasis on the drums. The controlled frenzy of "Making Plans for Nigel"—certainly one of the most famous songs of the "new wave", with Moulding’s bass (the piece's author, marking a significant point in the healthy compositional rivalry with the overwhelming Partridge) relentlessly driving—also clearly reflects the meaning of the album title. Powerful and unsettling drum patterns by Terry Chambers, and more effective guitar parts (the “wires” indeed) dominate, compensating for the departure of nerdy keyboardist Andrews. Also symptomatic in this sense are the martial "Roads girdle the globe", the intricate "Complicated game" (its crescendo is amazing!), the dizzying rhythmic layers of "Millions", or the squared march of "Scissor Man" (brilliantly covered by Primus, demonstrating how influential the group was beyond the realms of English pop).
Perhaps less successful are those moments when the tension is eased, such as in the ballad "Ten Feet Tall" or the lively "Real by Reel", with those ironic and unmistakable choirs; elsewhere, XTC demonstrate how an often overused adjective like eclectic fits them perfectly. "Day in Day Out", with those jagged guitars on rhythmic fragmentations that would become a model in the 80s, and the magnificent "That Is The Way", with a delirious combination of sax and Hawaiian guitar, make entire albums of groups that sold much more at the time pale in comparison.

In short, it's a great record: a journey through the most fascinating moods of pop at the end of the '70s, with the ability to restore the centrality of melody amidst so much avant-garde: the latter, moreover, has aged decidedly worse.