Go 2

Familiar with a few of their earlier songs, I made 'Go 2' my first XTC purchase shortly after its 1978 release. I soon added their much-vaunted debut album to my collection and was surprised that it didn't sound as good. Andy Partridge may well disagree. He was later quoted as saying that the production lacked the edge of 'White Music', while song selection was the subject of a fierce debate between the three songwriters involved. Though keyboardist Barry Andrews managed to get a couple of songs on the album, he subsequently left.

Whatever the merits of the album, I feel that the recordings and the songs show an improvement in craft whereas 'White Music' is at times slapdash. The result is that 'Go 2' is more diverse and songs such as 'Beatown' and 'Battery Brides' are allowed to develop gradually.

The edgier, uptempo side of XTC is still represented in songs such as 'Crowded Room' and the chaotic 'Red'.

A preoccupation with the standardised nature of modern living and its expectations is evident on the first two tracks which deal superbly with the nature of courtship. 'Meccanik Dancing' is no 'Saturday Night Fever'. Typical of the band's approach at this time it has a sturdy rhythm, an odd melody and witty lyrics. By the time you reach Colin Moulding's in- your-face 'I Am The Audience' you've been led through a thoroughly diverse and imaginative range of material. 'Go 2' does lack hit material but is of even quality. My only major complaint is that the bonus disc of dub alternatives of five of the tracks could have been included with the CD rather than confined to the 'Dub Experiments' CD.

But does anybody remember Eddie Yeats dancing to Red - or was it Jumping in Gomarrah? - in an episode of Corrie? Yes, it really happened. That's greatness for you.

Rating: 7/10

Best tracks: `Meccanik Dancing (Oh We Go!), `Life is Good in the Greenhouse', `Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian)', `Beatown'

Go 2 is not regarded as one of XTC's finest albums - most of the criticism get levelled at keyboardist Barry Andrews, whose playing gets even more prominence second time around than it did on White Music, while his lyrical contributions have got plenty of flak. `Super Tuff' gets off relatively lightly, regarded as merely a weak stab at reggae, while `My Weapon' has got to be one of the most hated XTC songs ever, what with its spiteful sexism and `gonna take it out on her/with my weapon' lyric. The latter is a really odd thing to hear within the confines of an XTC album, and we wouldn't hear its kind again as Andrews would quit the band shortly after this. To be fair `Super Tuff' is alright, I don't mind it, and I really like the music to `My Weapon' too!

However, these compositions can't help but suffer in comparison to the best of Andy Partridge's songs on Go 2 - the first tracks songs are absolute belters! `Meccanik Dancing (Oh We Go!)' is a joyous call-to-arms that sees Andy give it everything - `alcohol is - an easy keee-eeeeee!!!!!' - and the band match him all the way with layers of irresistible robo-rhythms. `Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian)' is a slow-burning gem that has plenty of subtle, intriguing textures - the Brian of the subtitle was Brian Eno, who did consider joining XTC before deciding they were inspired enough not to need him. Now that's a compliment!

Overall, I'd say the album isn't quite as strong as White Music, but its highlights see the band pushing their sound further and into dazzling new directions - other great songs include the raucous, exhilarating rush of `Beatown' (which winds itself up to a thrilling peak) and the terrific, almost dub-like slow-pace of `Life is Good in the Greenhouse', which gets more and more hypnotic the more you listen to it. There's also plenty of fun to be had with `The Rhythm' and `Crowded Room', both reliably taut, weird and edgy. `Red' and `Jumping in Gomorrah' get the pulse racing too, even if they're slightly less than inspired creations, working more on an energetically crowdpleasing rather than creative level, while `I am the Audience' is an underwhelming closer. Still, Go 2 is pretty underrated really quite fun despite its patchiness, and even though plenty don't like them, I really like Andrews' keyboards on this album! After this though, he'd be gone, while second guitarist Dave Gregory would be in and keyboards would end up playing a much smaller role on what would be XTC's breakthrough album, Drums and Wires.

There's one bonus track - the non-album single `Are You Receiving Me?', which has an arresting opening keyboard hook that the rest of the song doesn't quite live up to - still, it's a fun bit of rowdy pop-punk. Odd that Go+, a 5-track EP that fascinatingly turned various Go 2 songs inside out and into space and was originally bundled free with the original vinyl album, isn't included here. It can be found instead on the Explode Together: The Dub Experiments 78-80 compilation.

PS: The artwork for this album is terrific.