The Agony and the XTC

Arts and Sciences assistant professor of humanities David Yaffe recently wrote an article for The Paris Review, entitled Agony and the XTC.

In the piece, Yaffe explores the band’s history and legacy.

“XTC is pop that is somehow beyond the limits of pop,” he wrote. “There is pop and art, and there is rock and art, and yet the terms Pop art or art-rock don’t quite fit. In the seventies, bands such as Yes; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Genesis; Jethro Tull; and so on were known—with their long solos, long tracks, and grandiose concepts—as art-rock.”