rock'n'bike

XTC was one of the smartest -- and catchiest -- British pop bands to emerge from the punk and new wave explosion of the late '70s. From the tense, jerky riffs of their early singles to the lushly arranged, meticulous pop of their later albums, XTC's music has always been driven by the hook-laden songwriting of guitarist Andy Partridge and bassist Colin Moulding. While popular success has eluded them in both Britain and America, the group has developed a devoted cult following in both countries that remains loyal over two decades after their first records.… more

XTC took full advantage of their studio-bound status with The Big Express, creating their most painstakingly detailed, multi-layered, sonically dynamic album to date. The more upbeat material and brighter sound recall some of the band's earlier moments, but most of all, The Big Express signals a turning point for the band, setting the blueprint for their later approach -- a combination of studio perfection matched with impeccable songcraft that results in a thoroughly consistent and enjoyable album beginning to end. Skylarking, the album that followed, gets much more glory, and certainly its impact was greater (this one was virtually ignored), but really, The Big Express covers much of the same territory and is just as strong an album in many ways

music

Smalltown, snoring under blankets
Woken by the clank
It's just the milkman's dawn round
Smalltown, hiding undercovers
The lodgers and the lovers
Are asleep 'round smalltown

Shiney grey black snake of bikes
He slithers
Bearing up the men and boys
To work
We're standing in poplar lines
Making alarm clocks that'll wake our wives up
Don't ask us, we haven't the time
We're racing the hooter that'll signal life's up

Smalltown, crouching in the valley
Woken by the sally army
Sunday marchround
Smalltown, coughing in the toilet
Who on earth would spoil it
Would they pull down smalltown?

If it's all the same to you
Mrs progress
Think i'll drink my oxo up
And get away
It's not that you're repulsive to see
In your brand new catalogue nylon nightie
You're too fast for little old me
Next you'll be telling me it's 1990

I have lived here for a thousand years or maybe more
And i've sheltered all the children who have fought the wars
And as payment they make love in me
In squeaky beds
In bicycle sheds
Inside of their heads
As singles and weds
As tories and reds
And that's how i'm fed
And that's how i'm fed

Smalltown, snoring under blankets
Woken by the clank
It's just the milkman's dawn round
Smalltown, hiding undercovers
The lodgers and the lovers
Are asleep 'round smalltown

Smalltown, crouching in the valley
Woken by the sally army
Sunday marchround
Smalltown, coughing in the toilet
Now who on earth would spoil it
Will you pull down smalltown

Smalltown
Smalltown

rock'n'bike

2009-08-05

Find your bicycle song!

Xtc - The Everyday Story Of Smalltown

2009-08-04

Sufjan Stevens - Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly in His Hair

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