XTC | White Music [1978] Vinyl Review | States & Kingdoms

XTC | White Music [1978]

We have discussed almost every XTC album here, this was a big one that we hadn't recorded yet. So finally here it is! Still to come- Nonsuch!

White Music is the debut studio album by the English rock band XTC, released on January 20, 1978. It was the follow-up to their debut, 3D EP, released three months earlier. White Music reached No. 38 in the UK Albums Chart and spawned the single "Statue of Liberty", which was banned by the BBC for the lyric "In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt". In April 1978, the group rerecorded "This Is Pop" as their third single.

Originally titled Black Music, referring to black comedy, the title was changed at the suggestion of both Virgin Records and the band's manager. The resultant title, White Music, refers to white noise.

In 2014, Stereogum described the album as a "collection of scratchy, hyperactive post-punk". The track "Radios in Motion" has become one of the band's better-known songs. In a 2009 interview, Andy Partridge stated, "We couldn't think of any better way to start off our first album than with the 'kick the door in', breezy opener we used in our live set... the lyrics are very silly, picked for their sonic effect rather than meaning. The first refuge of an inexperienced songwriter, forgive me, but they do have a youthful scattergun energy." The song is considered representative of the band's "agitated amphetamine rock" style of their earlier works, though others would call it "relatively tame mod-pop". The song mentions Milwaukee in the lyrics because Partridge's aunt lived in that city.

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