Robyn Hitchcock, Chronolology

By Cait Brennan

Robyn Hitchcock has spent most of the past 40 years creating some of the most inventive, funny, poignant, and pointed songs of our time. From the “psychedelic punk” of his work with the Soft Boys to his clever, lyrical solo albums to the neo-garage Venus 3, few artists have been harder to pigeonhole. He’s produced surreal classics like “The Man With the Lightbulb Head,” “Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl,” and “Do Policemen Sing?” as well as spare, melancholy acoustic gems like “I Used To Say I Love You” and “I Feel Beautiful”.

Two recent Yep Roc box sets—I Wanna Go Backwards and Luminous Groove—chronicled his best-loved solo albums and rewarded fans with lavish rarities. But for those new to his work, finding an “easy in” to Hitchcock’s formidable catalog might seem daunting.

Even listing it is daunting: depending on what you count and how you count it, Hitchcock’s body of work includes at least seven albums and EPs with the Soft Boys, 18 “solo” albums (including those with the Egyptians and Venus 3), about 20 “rarities” and live albums, three very incomplete best-of’s, a Jonathan Demme-directed concert film, and countless one-off appearances—all on a wide variety of US and UK labels, and until recently, much of it out of print. Newcomers could be forgiven for not knowing where to start.

Once again, Yep Roc comes to the rescue: on October 25, the label is releasing Chronolology, a straightforward digital-only introduction to Planet Hitchcock, curated by the man himself, and aimed squarely at an online audience.

One of the pioneers of post-punk and “college rock”, Hitchcock’s essential college radio hits are well represented, from the Soft Boys’ amazing mashup of punk, power pop, and psychedelia “I Wanna Destroy You” to the socked-in verdant melancholy of “I Often Dream Of Trains” to irresistibly catchy modern rock mainstays like “If You Were A Priest,” “Balloon Man,” and “Madonna of the Wasps”. The Soft Boys’ 2002 reunion album Nextdoorland gets a nod with “Mr. Kennedy;” “Goodnight Oslo” and “Adventure Rocketship,” from his excellent recent records with the Venus 3 (REM’s Peter Buck, Ministry’s Bill Rieflin and Young Fresh Fellows’ Scott McCaughey), round out the set.

“The songs are a series of dots which, if you join them together, make a continuous line: like stations on the London Underground,” Hitchcock said in a press release. “So Piccadilly Circus is ‘Madonna Of The Wasps’ and Hammersmith is ‘I Feel Beautiful.’ Which means King’s Cross is ‘I Wanna Destroy You.'”

In a creative metropolis as vast as Hitchcock’s, sixteen tracks hardly feels like enough “stations”, but you see the big landmarks. Longtime fans will have a field day quibbling over missing favorites (‘what, no “Uncorrected Personality Traits”?!’) but Chronolologydoes exactly what it says on the tin: it’s an excellent place to start exploring the vital work of one of Earth’s weirdest and most wonderful rock artists. “Chronolology is one of many possible orbits through my world,” says Hitchcock. “See where it takes you.”

Track listing:
“I Wanna Destroy You” (with The Soft Boys)
“Kingdom of Love” (with The Soft Boys)
“Only the Stones Remain” (with The Soft Boys)
“The Man Who Invented Himself ”
“I Often Dream Of Trains”
“My Wife and My Dead Wife” (with The Egyptians)
“If You Were a Priest” (with The Egyptians)
“Balloon Man” (with The Egyptians)
“Madonna of the Wasps” (with The Egyptians)
“So You Think You’re in Love” (with The Egyptians)
“Queen Elvis” (Robyn Hitchcock)
“I Feel Beautiful” (Robyn Hitchcock)
“Mr. Kennedy” (with The Soft Boys)
“Full Moon in My Soul” (Robyn Hitchcock)
“Adventure Rocket Ship” (with The Venus 3)
“Goodnight Oslo” (with The Venus 3)

Chronolology was released on October 25 through Yep Roc Records and is available to order from their website. For more on Robyn Hitchcock, be sure to check out his website as well.