XTC - Go 2

Go 2 (1978) ***1/2

This hastily released followup sounds exactly like the debut, so it receives the same grade.  And thus ends my review.

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OK, there are some differences.  The band naturally sound a tad more professional and assured the second time round, and have ratcheted down the hyperactivity a notch (thank god).  On first superficial listen, it's immediately more appealing on the ears than the debut for that reason, but being a rush job, some of the songs sound underwritten and, well, rushed.  You can tell that they were short on material because they allowed keyboardist Barry Andrews to sneak a couple of his tunes onto the record:  "My Weapon" may be a parody of sexism but that makes it no less sexistly stupid; and "Super Tuff" - what's this nerdy white boy trying to do, make a contribution to The Harder They Come soundtrack?  Never mind, Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding are still up to form,  "Meccanik Dancing" an ode to / satire of the drinking & dancing classes, and "Battery Brides" (marriage = the factory assembly line) are especially fine, and not uncoincidentally the opening two tracks.  From there we get the good (Moulding's nerd-anthem "Crowded Room" and even better "Buzzcity Talking") to the bad ("Beatown" which seems endless at a mere 4 minutes) to the ugly ("Red"'s squeaky sax honking).  The best is tacked onto last, the bonus track single, "Are You Receiving Me?" a relatively uncomplicated power-pop boy-gets-screwed-over-by-girl anthem, and easily the finest three minutes found on the band's first two albums.  As with the debut, one herky-jerky bouncy rocker after the other grows tiresome over the course over an entire album, but in small doses, most of the individual songs are a shot in the arm.  Prime XTC, however, was still just around the corner.