XTC "Black Sea"

For those of you who know me, you will attest to the fact that I am the anti-pop. And when it comes to anything that resembles danceable happy music, you’ll know I‘m plugging my ears. I am so white Anglo-Saxon that I think funk is when Black Sabbath plays fast. In fact, my wife and I recently went to Shambhala, a “techno?” festival in the woods where some of the world’s best DJs perform to thousands of people for three days. While the masses danced around me into the wee hours, I stood motionless, confused, wondering why people are dancing and cheering for the guy who is playing the records. There weren’t even guitar players on the stage.

So why, you may ask, would I be reviewing Britain’s XTC? That quirky, cheery, danceable band from the late seventies, eighties and onward. Well…because they are different. They are far smarter than you and I. Well, me anyway. In a time of punk rock nihilism and social hopelessness, XTC managed to deliver thought provoking, intelligent music that you could dance to. Blending punk politics with pop, ska, and perhaps art rock, you found yourself whistling along to songs about social unrest and disenfranchised youth. Bloody brilliant.
“Black Sea” is to me, their crowning achievement. Most likely you’ve only ever heard XTC’s minor hit, “Making Plans For Nigel”. That is one odd song. But only one element of a band thick with creativity. “Black Sea” was released in 1980. Their fourth full length album making only a small dent on the charts.

The first track, "Respectable Street” is a bouncy little number that takes a sarcastic look at the stuffy world of upper middle class England. Rather than spew moronic hate at the issue like some of their peers at that time, XTC choose wit.
Next we have another pop anthem riddled with melody and poignant anti-war lyrics. “Generals and Majors” is a prime example of how the band has you dancing to their political offerings.
“Living Through Another Cuba” is my personal favourite song on the album. It leans on a ska feel while hopping along to the dark “cold war” theme of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Full of fantastic lyrical play, and as usual, genius pop melodies, you can’t help but dance along happily while thinking of an event that nearly cost us man-kind as a whole.

The next two tracks, “Love At First Sight” and “Rocket From A Bottle” are simply two catchy love songs that manage to not use the old standard, “oooohh baby, I love you”. A refreshing change indeed from the sappy turds that tended to ooze from the radio both then and now.
“No language In Our Lungs” is a slow dirge full of colour that musically mirrors the topic of a generation that doesn’t know what to say or where to start.
“Towers Of London” was an almost hit. Perhaps the lyrical content was a little too much for the staunch folk who hold proudly the vision of the British Empire. A song about the people crushed underfoot of a vision too blinding.
“Paper and Iron” is the next track on the album. It is another song about the downtrodden working class in England. Combining all of their usual musical charm with gloomy lyrics of factories, churches, and poverty stricken families. Don’t stop dancin’ now!!!
Just when you thought this album couldn’t possibly have another danceable pop masterpiece, BLAMMO, there’s another. “Burning With Optimism’s Flame” lightens the mood a bit after the doom and gloom of the last few songs. Not like you would notice though, as you’ve probably been whistling and skipping through most of it already. “Sgt. Rock” is also a lighter topic, still rife with quirky and even giddy interludes of sound. Equating a woman’s love with a battle field that can be won through the help of “Sgt Rock’s” strategy is most amusing.
Finally we come to the end of an album that sounds more like a greatest hits package from a band that you’ve never heard than just another release from XTC. And what a twisted tale of change it is. “Travels In Nihilon” sounds more like a Killing Joke song than XTC. But then again, XTC throws so many curve balls that you can never really guage their middle ground. Dark, brooding, and oh so smart. A perfect climax to an album of very enjoyable music whether you are listening to the lyrics or just caught in the wave of happy, well-written pop.
XTC are unique. “Black Sea” is perfect. But don’t just believe me. Go and find it and put it in your collection. Mike Maggot.