Chips from the Chocolate Fireball

XTC created the Dukes of Stratosphear almost on a lark, as an excuse to play the kind of music they grew up listening to and playing. The invention of the pseudonym gave them the opportunity to wear on their sleeves the influences they had only hinted at as XTC. The Dukes released two records between 1985 and 1987 and they are both compiled in their entirety on Chips from the Chocolate Fireball. Listening to Chips is like sifting through a \'60s psychedelia bin at a good used record store. The only thing missing are the pops and crackles as you drop the needle onto the neglected vinyl. The best of the era is re-created here with reverence and an amazing attention to detail: Syd Barrett\'s childlike lyrics, the Blue Cheer fuzz-guitar frenzy, dissonant Sgt. Pepper strings and horns, and good old Brian Wilson-style indulgences. The record opens with \"25 O\'Clock,\" which instantly recalls the Electric Prunes\' \"I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night.\" From there the references become more obscure: the Count Five\'s \"Psychotic Reaction\" is invoked by the bombastic guitar sludge of Sir John Johns (Andy Partridge) and Lord Cornelius Plum (Dave Gregory) on \"My Love Explodes,\" while \"Bike Ride to the Moon\" is demented enough to have appeared on Pink Floyd\'s Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Other high points include the Hollies-inspired \"Vanishing Girl\" and the Beatles-style piano stomp \"You\'re a Good Man Albert Brown.\" The record closes with the priceless \"Pale and Precious.\" With its dead-on Wilson brothers harmonies and faux theremin, the song plays like an undiscovered gem from the Beach Boys\' Smile sessions. --Paul Ducey (Amazon)