Under-Rated Albums Rescued from The Vault: XTC's Mummer

XTC Mummer (1983)

"Until early 1982, our work was like black-and-white TV. Mummer was the first in full color -- bright sky blue," -- Andy Partridge.

Virtually every band that avoided the punk rock explosion of the mid- to late 1970s seemed unavoidably attracted to the many new and exciting computer- and midi-affected technologies exploding into the consumer market at the end of the decade and in the early years of the 1980s. Not so relative newcomers Andy Partridge and his Swindon mates calling themselves XTC. The Wiltshire lads kept their heads down and fought off the mainstream pressures developed by their early success. We should have seen it coming in the lyrics of their early hits. Songs like "This Is Pop?" "Making Plans for Nigel" "Life Begins at the Hop," "Towers of London," "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)," and "Generals and Majors" all did little to express their open suspicion and disdain for money-motivated pop culture. And then comes a UK Top 5 album in 1982's English Settlement. Andy just wanted to make the music that he wanted to make, not what the labels and managers were telling him to make. Thus, with 1983's Mummer we find the band going against all contemporary conventions, moving deeply into the musical tastes that they held dear: they crafting an almost-folk-rock album!
     Mummer was released a full 18 months after English Settlement. It contained many acoustic-oriented and specifically-English perspectives and phrasings, not what the popular fan base that their record company had built for them was expecting. The album was a disaster from the popular sales and charting point-of-view. Because of the long delay to release and the rather drastic and unexpected change in musical style, loyal fans actually thought that the band had broken up or drastically reformed their lineup. The album even took the critics by surprise earning mostly tepid to mediocre reviews. What the plebes new little of at the time was that leader Partridge had suffered a mental breakdown--much over the pressures of conforming to record label demands and expectations as well as to crippling stage fright when performing live. When Geffen Records decided to value Andy's BEATLES-like genius and temperament, the album was released. While Andy was later quoted to have said, "Until early 1982, our work was like black-and-white TV. Mummer was the first in full color -- bright sky blue," I think both English Settlement and even 1980s Black Sea showed some glimmers of full-spectrum light. Still, Mummer was the first uniquely Andy Partridge album the band had been allowed to release. Andy is credited to writing al but three of the album's 16 songs. As is so often the case, the most melodic and easily accessible songs just happen to be the three that Colin Moulding penned, yet Andy's quirky all-English music and lyrics are charming--they are gems for their off-beat, angular styles and expressions. With the knowledge of Andy's psychological challenges, the lyrics and music take on an even more admirable and appreciable bent. 
     No, Mummer is not a perfect album. It is not a concept album. It feels much more like a band's first album--a collection of diverse and personal songs that might come from a span of four or five years. And yet there is definitely a feeling of release, of relief, of freedom and creative devil-may-care. I like it!

Lineup/Musicians:
Andy Partridge -- guitars, voices
Colin Moulding -- basses, voices, composer of songs 2, 5, 8
Dave Gregory -- guitars, voices
     with:
Drums -- Peter Phipps (3 to 10); Terry Chambers (1, 2)
Steve Nye -- Mellotron (5), synthesizers (2)

Gavin Wright -- Strings (4)

Phil Thornalley -- Strings (4)

1. "Beating of Hearts" (4:01) from the start we get the obvious message that this music is not going to be normal--and nowhere near the techno-pop soundscapes that were dominating the radio (and video) waves at that time. Heck, this song is not even "normal" for any era of music that has ever occupied the public imagination! There is a slight feel and sound of familiarity to the BEATLES' psychedelic music, but Andy and company have taken it far beyond what George and the Fab Four ever conceived. (9/10)

2. "Wonderland" (4:43) Another distinctly odd song that happens to have (thanks to Colin Moulding) some unmistakably catchy melodies and sounds. Still, the latest technologies taken in directions that no one else was taking them. This one was even released as a single. (10/10)

3. "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" (3:58) Another of the singles released from the album, this song takes us back to the supremely odd and angular world of Andy Partridge--though with a much more familiar folk-feeling to it. Lyrically, Andy takes us deep into his usual perspective of the injustices of social inequity. (9.5/10)

4. "Great Fire" (3:47) opening with grating guitar strums and mechanical drums (the birth of Industrial Pop?), by the time we shift into the first chorus the music it feels much more folk rock based. In the post-second chorus movement strings and orchestral instruments give this a BEATLES/ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA feel and sound. This is perhaps the song that comes closest to their previous work. Good song but not as memorable as the others. (8/10)

5. "Deliver Us From The Elements" (4:34) opens with a bouncy Jew's harp sound before guitar arpeggi and drums enter. Colin's voice in the lead gives this song a different feel and sound while the background music goes psychedelic creep in a kind of Wizard of Oz way--proving that Colin Moulding was not all about just fluff and beauty. (8.5/10)

6. "Human Alchemy" (5:11) opens like music that would be fitting for a horror film soundtrack--with a Rasta-beat! The entranced of the theatric, multi-voiced vocals do nothing to dispel the original impressions. Synth use during the chorus are the first and only instance of similarity to any of the contemporary techno-pop artists churning out the hits at this time. The drum play is quite similar to those that the WOMAD-obsessed PETER GABRIEL demanded of his drummers in his third and fourth eponymous solo albums (which validates the XTC connection to the 1982 WOMAD album release). (8.5/10)

7. "Ladybird" (4:32) is one of the more catchy, engaging "pop" songs that Andy Partridge ever penned. Full of melody and quirk, the song retains enough of Andy's signature angularities to ensure it's failure as pop hit. And yet, it's a great jazzy song! (9/10)

8. "In Loving Memory of a Name" (3:16) opening with an organ, we are duped into thinking this might be something more proggy, but then the full band comes in with a bouncy pop-jazz. Nice melodies. (It's Colin's, for God sake!--though Andy sings it.) And great musicianship and song production. (9/10)

9. "Me and The Wind" (4:16) intricately interesting musical construct with an almost-abrasive (yet confident) vocal. Kind of like an étude in classical music theory. Kind of a cool song if you don't expect pop music. (8.5/10)

10. "Funk Pop A Roll" (3:01) the one and only song on the album that I never cared for--despite its BYRDS-like use of electric 12-string guitar. I do know many people who love this song for its lyrics. (7.5/10)

This is, in my humble opinion, the first of a string of seven masterfully creative albums that Andy, Colin, and Dave did over a ten year period: Mummer (1983), Big Express (1984), 
Skylarking (1986), Oranges & Lemons (1989), and Nonsuch (1992) plus the two psychedelia-era-BEATLES-esqe DUKES OF STRATOSPHEAR albums (1985 & 1987). 

87.50 on the Fishscales = B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of innovative Crossover progressive rock music.