Los Angeles Times
September 12, 1988
Hitchcock Lets Crowd Into His Bizarro World

by Duncan Strauss

Robyn Hitchcock operates in a world all his own, where twisted, surreal imagery and various treatises on fish are the norm.

But he's such a gifted Pop tunesmith and delightfully eccentric performer that a Hitchcock show -- such as he gave Saturday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano -- quickly convinces you that his world is a great place to visit (even though you might not want to live there).

The magnetic effect of his quirky charm and songwriting skill -- his work often draws comparisons to Elvis Costello, though he probably has more in common with XTC's Andy Partridge -- also pulls notable musicians into Hitchcock's strange land. R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, a longtime fan, played on his latest album, Globe of Frogs, and has sat in on selected shows this year, including Saturday's performance.

But even before Buck stepped on stage, Hitchcock and his band, The Egyptians, showcased a full and varied musical approach -- surprisingly full and varied, considering the band consists only of bassist Andy Metcalfe and drummer Morris Windsor (who previously played with Hitchcock in a fine, if underappreciated, English group called The Soft Boys).

And lest there be any doubt about this threesome's ability, or tendency to mix it up, they pulled the old switcheroo on one encore -- Hitchcock on bass, Metcalfe on drums and Windsor on guitar -- and it was hard to tell the difference. They even shined with no instruments, doing a wonderful rendition of Hitchcock's bizarro a cappella tune "Uncorrected Personality Traits", which tracks the evolution of problem children into problem adults.

Even when joined by Buck and rocking full-tilt on such bouncy romps as "Balloon Man", which has actually received considerable commercial radio airplay, Hitchcock was clearly the star of the show. But he's a reluctant, subversive star. Immediately establishing the show's off-kilter tone, Hitchcock began the performance with typically wacko, tongue-in-cheek remarks, asking the audience not to applaud or otherwise respond to what followed.

Of course, the request went unheeded: the audience brought Hitchcock back for six songs' worth of encores, including "A Globe of Frogs", which was transformed from the record's airy, reflective piece into a barn-burner. The crowd was still screaming, even as the houselights came up. No one, it seemed, was in a big hurry to leave Hitchcock's world and return to the real one.