Talk, Talk, Talk Altoona PA

Talk, Talk, Talk

The Psychedelic Furs

Columbia Records, 1981

REVIEW BY: Hansen Olson

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/10/1997

I owned the T-shirt before I bought the album. It was cool. TheT-shirt, that is. Bright green with neon pink, raised letters thatstated simply, "Psychedelic Furs." Very avant garde for aneducation major! Since I worked at my friend's record store and gotmost of my pay in albums, I figured I'd take a chance and get the"Pfurs" newest offering, Talk, Talk, Talk.

At first it seemed exciting. Richard Butler sings with thatsneering, world-weary voice that makes you believe he doesn't givea fuck. The guitars were layered over each other. They surgedforward and ran "into you like a train," as the best song on thealbum was titled. The lyrics were like a half-sobbed sigh ofdespair. There was even saxophone bleating high in the mix, soanti-new wave that it was cool.

The "Pfurs" seem to have never quite broken through, at least inthe US. There was always someone a little more radical for theunderground punks, someone a little more accessible for the weekendsafety-pin types. Then, "Pretty In Pink" was used as the theme songfor the teen angst movie of the same name. Suddenly the Furs werebig with the hip, teen crowd.

I don't know. The excitement just isn't there for me anymore.What used to seem like decadent energy now seems like a feebleattempt at cultivating a demographic. I pull Talk, Talk, Talk out every once in a while, whenever I wantto fantasize about Molly Ringwald. Richard Butler has gone on to anew band called Love Spit Love. Same idea, updated for the '90's. Idon't expect to hear much from them after a while. Theirdemographic has moved on.