TC&I, Great Aspirations, 2018

EP Review

By Henry Lipput

"Scatter Me," the first track on TC&I's 4-song Great Aspirations EP, is probably the most upbeat song about death I've ever heard.

"Scatter me far and wide / Up in the hills where we walked," a loved one is instructed on how to dispose of the deceased's ashes. And don't make it a sad, dreary affair but rather make it a celebration of a life: "Scatter me fondly like wedding bell rice" and "Scatter me sweetly in wedding dress white."

If there are parts of "Scatter Me" that remind you of something by that great British rock band XTC (perhaps "The Meeting Place" from Skylarking), it shouldn't be surprising. The TC in TC&I is Terry Chambers; and the I is Colin Moulding, both of whom were founding members of the band. This is the first time they've worked together since the early 80s. After it became clear that XTC would never tour again, Chambers put down his drum sticks, left England, and moved to Australia (He recently moved back to England). Moulding stayed with the group until their last album, the brilliant Wasp Star (Apple Venus Pt. 2).

In 2016, I was thrilled to discover that Moulding was recording with the Berlin-based, California native, and psychedelic-leaning singer, songwriter, and producer Anton Barbeau on Barbeau's Magic Act and Allyson Seconds's Little World albums. Moulding played bass and sang backing vocals on those albums but with TC&I he's taken a lead role again. He wrote all of the songs on Great Aspirations, sang lead vocals (and is in fine voice), and played, bass, guitar, and keyboards. I don't know what Chambers has been up to in Australia, but he obviously hasn't missed a beat when it comes to drumming and provides a strong backbeat for all of the songs.

On "Greatness (The Aspiration Song)," over a swinging melody, Moulding sings (perhaps with a bit of tongue in cheek) of wanting to not only be better, but also to be as good as his heroes: "Overwhelming greatness is where I want to be / Make my daddy proud of me / Hope my mamma lives to see / My greatness." He gives a shout out to his idols Churchill, Hitchcock, Spielberg, and Gershwin before making it clear that "like McCartney -- that's where I want to be!" But for fans of his previous work, Moulding, as one of the best bass players in the post-Beatles world, is already there.

"Kenny" has Moulding's lead guitar front and center, and there's strong bass-and-drums work as well. I really like the sound of this song; but, not being from the UK, I'm not quite sure what it's about although there are lyrics that mention a young man becoming famous all over England.

The spoken-word "Comrades In Pop" is an interesting story of how, according to Moulding, things work in pop music. "It's the guy that writes the hits that gets the money in this funny old world of pop / The bassist and the drummer might be lucky but never seem to get a lot." Since this EP was made by the bassist and drummer of a certain band, you could get the impression that Moulding is talking about them.

But, although Moulding wasn't the primary songwriter in XTC, he generated songs for every album as well as singles like "Life Begins At The Hop," "Ball And Chain," "King For A Day," and, one of XTC's most successful releases, "Making Plans For Nigel."

With Chambers adding interesting drum patterns to the mix, Moulding continues: "You start out high school buddies and swear allegiance for all time / But when the checks come rolling in / It's cash or I resign."

With Great Aspirations, Moulding and Chambers may very well become the bassist and the drummer who get lucky.

Great Aspirations is out now on Burning Shed.