There are two kinds of people: those who love XTC rabidly, passionately, without logic, hesitation or reservation, and those who have never heard XTC. For those who have never heard of XTC, there is absolutely no better place to start than Wasp Star: Apple Venus, Vol. 2.
There are very few perfect albums out there, albums you can listen to over and over again and never get the urge (all too tempting in this digital age) to press skip through at least one song that just doesn’t hold up to multiple listenings. But Wasp Star: Apple Venus, Vol. 2 is just such a perfect album.
First don\'t let the "Vol. 2" fool you - this album could not be more different from 1999\'s Apple Venus. Where that album was atmospheric, dreamy and conceptual, Wasp Star is 12 nearly-perfect pop tracks, multi-layered with so much irresistible sonic intrigue that the ear never gets tired of any of it. This album is truly a paragon of pop tunesmithing that is all the more lovable for being generally unknown outside diehard fan circles (of course, when it comes to XTC, all fans are diehard fans).
Begin at the beginning and don\'t stop until the final angelic note in "The Wheel and the Maypole" has completely ceased to resonate against your eardrum.
The album opens with a fuzzy guitar riff that leads into album opener "Playground." XTC sets the tone of the album right here - beautiful, complicated vocal harmonies double- and triple-tracked over each other, an immensely likable, hummable, singable verse that opens into a redemptive major-chord chorus. Hard to believe there are only two members of this band when you hear this sound - it is no surprise that fans worship both Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding. With two minds, a wealth of musical knowledge and a masterful producing touch (courtesy of Nick Davis) the effect implies an almost symphonic fullness that is sustained brilliantly throughout the album.
As "Playground" fades out, "Stupidly Happy" fades in, and suddenly you are, in fact, stupidly happy. There could be no more perfect subject matter for this sweet, peppy, bright pop gem. A well-placed guitar riff between the verses creates an auditory balancing point between the rich baritone of the melody and the rhythmic fun of the spoken-word connectors ("And if the devil walks out/ Dressed in any disguise/ I\'ll take him by the collars, look him in the eyes.") And always, always, that angelic and complex vocal harmony that just continues to expand and expand and expand as each song unfolds.
Next up is "In Another Life," which at first sounds like a sweet folk song but with more layers. There\'s a harmonica, an acoustic guitar, and a Gaelic drum beat, but the sound is pure XTC, a hint of the New Wave for which they initially became popular, a lot of melody, and a dry sense of humor in the lyrics that could only come out of Britain.
"My Brown Guitar" at first sounds like an attempt at a country-western style, but it is not long before the signature XTC vocal harmony opens up into pure loveliness again. ("You want some lovely?/ I\'ve got some lovely" they sing. And indeed they do.) As the notes resolve into the two-step chorus, the mid-era Beatles\' influence asserts itself, not for the last time on this album, which often sounds like a companion to the quirkiness of the White Album.
"Boarded Up" is a simple song that creates sonic interest by reversing the trend evident on the rest of the album: rather than a minor verse followed by major chorus, this song starts out in a major 7 and transitions into minor chords. This is by far the least full-sounding song on the album, but its simplicity keeps the rest of the album from getting lost in a sea of sensory overload, which is important, as the song that follows, "I\'m the Man Who Murdered Love," is quite possibly the most perfect three minutes of pop heaven ever recorded. Despite its sardonic lyrics ("I\'m the man who murdered love/What do you say to that?/ I put a bullet in his sugar head/ He thanked me kindly, then he lay down dead"), the song is irresisitibly catchy, happy, toe-tapping. The multi-tracked vocals, the complex bass line, the syncopated guitars... all of it is pure perfection. You cannot listen to this song and not be happy. There is absolutely no reason that this was not a huge top 40 pop hit.
It is often the case that a great song is followed on an album by a mediocre song that sounds even worse by its comparison to the song that came before. You might wonder how XTC was ever going to follow up on a truly perfect pop song. The answer is this: with an even more perfect pop song. "We\'re All Light" is just as brilliant as "I\'m the Man Who Murdered Love" but without its dark humor. Here, the pop perfection is earnest and warm instead ("You won\'t mind if I kiss you now?/ We may hear the angels recite.") Throughout the album, the production quality is nearly flawless, but nowhere moreso than on this track. Every sound that hits the ear is amazing, beautiful, inspiring. It sounds like falling in love feels, opening up neural pathways in the brain that usually lie dormant. Pure heaven.
"Standing in for Joe" again reveals the Beatles\' influence, sounding subtly like some of the best of the oddball White Album tracks, "Obla-di, Obla-da" perhaps, aided in no small part by hand claps and psychadelic guitar riffs.
"Wounded Horse" is pure drama, from the sad wail of the vocals to the clip-clops of the wood block in the background, but again, it all works because of the multi-tracked vocal harmonies. They are infectious even in this slightly contrived call-and-response format. The brain says "Imperfect!" but the ear doesn\'t care - the song, like the album, is irresistible ear candy.
"You and the Clouds Will Still Be Beautiful" is another purely charming track, with a complex rhythm and major-chord verses that transition into a musically complex chorus. The wit on this song is a warm wit, much like "We\'re All Light," and a sonic texture is added through brass instruments.
The final two tracks on the album, "Church of Women" and "The Wheel and the Maypole," blend together in a gorgeous auditory diptych that is a fitting conclusion to a flawless album. "Church of Women" starts simply but continues to spin around and around and around, adding layers with each revolution until the sound is positively transcendent, a near-holy choir of pop music perfection. As "Church of Women" transitions into "The Wheel and the Maypole," it almost sounds like a fugue or something straight out of Mozart\'s canon.
It is here that the album finally abandons its extremes of emotion for a wry wisdom that feels like a nice resolution ("Pyramids and palaces to dust, empires crumbling.../ And what made me think we\'re any better?/ And what made me think we\'d last forever?")
Lyrically, the album takes the listener (roughly) through the complex emotions of falling in love, being in love, and watching love die, sometimes with earnest emotion, often with dark, wry wit. But sonically, the sound never falters. It is intelligent, melodic, catchy and impossibly layered. When the ear needs a break from the musical complexity, a break is provided, but only long enough to recharge for a run of tracks in which the sound is ever-more resplendent, full, jangly, loopy, poppy, heavenly. A rare piece of perfection.
"Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)" is on sale May 22, 2000 from Virgin.
