XTC’s Andy Partridge always seems to have a new project cooking. This one, THE 3 CLUBMEN, is a trio performing what I would call posh pop. The four songs on their EP, The 3 Clubmen, are smooth and kinda quirky. Think of the early, experimental XTC of Go 2 merged with the end-of-life XTC of Apple Venus and you’re getting close. Andy’s mates on this one are multi-instrumentalist Stu Rowe of The Lighterthief and singer/guitarist Jen Olive, who does the bulk of the singing. (Andy supplies supporting and backing vocals, among the various instruments he plays.)
Right from the start there’s a dreamy vibe to The 3 Clubmen, as evidenced on opening track “Aviatrix” (is that like a dominatrix-slash-flight attendant?), with its sing-songy verses and chorus of “Straight into the sun you shoot me like a gun/I’m flyyyyying, flyyyying, I’m coming undone.” Track 2, “Racecar,” has a definite Go 2 thing going on – I can hear hints of “Battery Brides” and its off-kilter, kooky time signature throughout. (Traces of the guitar slashes of latter day XTC “Wake Up” are also detected.) Following track “Green Green Grasshopper” sounds like it could almost be a Dukes of Stratosphear outtake, as if the Dukes were trying to tame their psychedelic tendencies and make them safe for the world of 2023. 
“Look at Those Stars” is a showcase for Olive’s mod, affected vocals, which border on being twee but with a decidedly more adult sound. The song’s message is a good one (things aren’t so good in my life “but, hey, would you look at those stars?”).
Don’t know if we’ll ever get another XTC album but at least Andy’s keeping busy with his “solo” releases. Something from him is better than nothing, and anything is at least something. Something/anything? Yes, The 3 Clubmen is really something. – Marsh Gooch
3/5 (Lighterthief TAB001, 2023; available via Burning Shed)
NuDisc 