“Melt the Guns” (1982) – XTC * Written by Andy Partridge * LP: English Settlement * Produced by XTCThe ten-song US version of XTC’s English Settlement might be their most well-chiseled and satisfying LP, even if such an approach violates the UK songcraft examplars’ tendency toward bounty. Those who know the album will find the chittery “Melt the Guns” drifting through their minds in our present gun lust era. Its clever jauntiness, though, gets in its own message’s way, with its powerful “let’s hope they shoot themselves instead of others” line muffled away in the bridge. Here’s to reinterpretive possibilities.