Select
1995
Robyn Hitchcock
Eye ****
You & Oblivion ***
Invisible Hitchcock ****
Sequel
by Clark Collis
"Judith come and get your apples/Don't expect not to be scratched/Let them ferment in your hotbed/Looks to me like your pilchards have hatched". Over the last two decades, Robyn Hitchcock has developed a reputation for songwriting eccentricity -- first with The Soft Boys, and then as a solo artist -- unmatched since Syd Barrett played whole gigs strumming one chord while melted Mandrax ran down his face. Hitchcock writes love songs, for sure. But they tend to be love songs which take in newly repainted buildings, anthropomorphic cars, and dead -- if still annoyingly kicking -- spouses.
As this latest batch of reissues demonstrate, his songs are no less touching or effective despite their downright weirdness. Best evidence of this is probably 1988's Eye, for which Hitchcock departed for San Francisco and abandoned his usual band setup for a more acoustic feel. The result is a stripped-down triumph in which even the most offbeat compositions ("Cynthia Mask", "'Chinese Water Python'") feel the full benefit of Hitchcock's sonorous, angst-ridden vocals.
You & Oblivion, meanwhile, is a collection of previously unreleased tracks which should intrigue afficianados, not least because of the appearance of Peter Buck on the excellent "Birdshead". For newcomers, on the other hand, Invisible Hitchcock is the one to get. A collection of off-cuts and rarities featuring both The Soft Boys and his later backing band, The Egyptian; it contains not only such songs as "Give Me A Spanner, Ralph", "Point It At Gran", and the psychedelia-swathed "It's A Mystic Trip"; but also a Hitchcock short story which, even for him, plumbs new depths of surrealistic weirdness.
Indeed, after that it may well seem normal that the bonus, extended version of "Listening To The Higsons" features the man on vocals, lead guitar...and wok.
Soundbite: "Three of a very different kind."
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