XTC "Drums and Wires" (1979)

Drums and Wires
release date: Aug. 17, 1979
format: cd (2014 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Steve Lillywhite
label: Virgin Records / Ape House - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Making Plans for Nigel" - 2. "Helicopter" - 3. "Day in Day Out" - 4. "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty" (4 / 5) - 5. "Ten Feet Tall" - 6. "Roads Girdle the Globe" - 7. "Real by Reel" (4 / 5) - 8. "Millions" - 9. "That Is the Way" - 10. "Outside World" (4,5 / 5) - 11. "Scissor Man" - 12. "Complicated Game" (4,5 / 5) - *15. "Life Begins at the Hop" (4 / 5)
[ full album playlist ]
*Bonus track on various releases from 1979, as well as on 2014 remaster

3rd studio album by XTC released on Virgin and produced by Steve Lillywhite. The original vinyl release contains 12 tracks - whereas the 2014 cd remaster disc 1 contains 18 tracks. After having released the band's second album Go 2, keyboardist Barry Andrews left the band (to join Robert Fripp in The League of Gentlemen and a year was part of the new-founded Shriekback) and he was subsequently replaced by guitarist Dave Gregory, which naturally makes this album a rather different release. Together with the debut, this is one of XTC's finest collections of songs showing that the band already belongs to other styles and genres than only punk rock or mere post-punk. Where Go 2 was highly experimental post-punk and 'zolo', this is a slight move into melody-based songwriting with new wave written all over the place, but also with a twist of something else... maybe art rock? Anyway, it's clearly new wave with inspiration from ska and reggae, but also from jazz rock and progressive rock. XTC is a very rare band in the sense that they can release a collection of songs like these that are perfectly in family with both classic pop melodies of a Lennon / McCartney British songwriter school, and at the same time also in family with new wave art-rockers like Talking Heads and Devo, in family with more pure punk rock bands like The Damned and Sex Pistols, AND still capable in keeping the tracks closely related! That may sound quite impossible or irrational. Nevertheless, XTC makes it happen right here.
This album is one of my absolute favourites of the late '70s, and it's still an album that has something to offer and quite frankly hasn't dated much.
The album has been reissued a number of times. "Life Begins at the Hop" was not included on the very first issue, but quickly found its way to early pressings of the album, as its also a single release from just before the original album release. Together with other single releases from around '79 this is one of the album's true highlights, imho.
Drums and Wires was re-released in 2014 as part of 'The Surround Sound Series' in a highly expanded two-disc version consisting of a cd with a new mix of the original album (crafted by Steven Wilson] with an additional 6 bonus tracks, and a blue-ray disc consisting of 99 [!] tracks, a handful of live recordings and 2 videos. Anyway, Drums and Wires is a must-have in any decent collection of new wave albums.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

**The 6 bonus tracks on 2014 remaster include: 13. "Chain Of Command", A-side single org. rel. Aug. 17, 1979, 14. "Limelight", B-side single org. rel. Aug. 17, 1979, 15. "Life Begins At The Hop", A-side single org. rel. May 4, 1979, 16. "Homo Safari", B-side single org. rel. May 4, 1979, 17. "Ten Feet Tall (Electric Version)", B-side single org. rel. Mar 14, 1980, 18. "Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down", A-side single org. rel. Mar, 14, 1980.

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~
"Outside World"

"She has six swans singing in her sauna
So she can't hear what's going on
No she can't hear what's going on
In the outside world
In the outside world
In the outside
Bad black and white men
Standing in their pigpen
Selling guns to simpletons
To shoot 'em in the abdomen
And she's not interested in that
And she's not interested in that
She has six swans singing in her sauna
Outside - world - outside

She has eleven lions laughing at her lakeside
So she can't hear what's going on
No she can't hear what's going on
In the outside world
In the outside world
In the outside
Bad brown and yellow men
Splitting on their fellow men
Drape her in a newspaper
And stab her with a poison pen
She's not interested in that
She's not interested in that
She has eleven lions laughing at her lakeside
Outside - world - outside

You can keep your animals
All the noise and the din
Just make a little space for me
I'm coming in"

~ ~ ~
"Life Begins At The Hop"

"I have learnt there's a magical spot at the hop
Come with me to the church on the corner the hop
There's nuts and there's crisps and there's c-c-c-cola on tap
A good time had by those boys and those girls at the hop

Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
Tell me what do you say
I tell you
Life begins at the hop, boys and girls

Prepare yourself for the boys in the band at the hop
The cheap guitars, they're too young for the bars at the hop
We'll jive around, make fools of ourselves 'til they stop
We're back next week with another ridiculous tie knot

Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
Tell me what do you say
I tell you
Life begins at the hop, boys and girls

Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
I tell you
Life begins at the hop, boys and girls

I have learnt there's a magical spot at the hop
Come with me to the church on the corner the hop
There's nuts and crisps and there's c-c-c-cola on tap
A good time had by those boys and those girls at the hop

Tell me what do you say (tell me what do you say)
Tell me what do you say
I tell you
Life begins at the hop, la la la la la la la
Life begins at the hop, la la la la la la la
Life begins at the hop, la la la la la la la la la la la
boys and girls
~ ~ ~