Forever Now

About

The London-based Psychedelic Furs rose from tattered art-school ambitions; singer Richard Butler had a life forever altered by the ungodly trio of Andy Warhol, Johnny Rotten, and David Bowie. Coming off the great Steve Lilywhite–helmed <i>Talk Talk Talk</i>, producer Todd Rundgren (whose production history included Badfinger and The New York Dolls) homed in even more on the band’s Velvet Underground–like organized pop noise (consider for a second how unhip the Velvets were in 1982) and Butler’s busted–muffler–meets–Charles Aznavour croon. The result was a set of tight, highly listenable songs. There are sardonic sing-alongs with William Burroughs–style takes on America and fame (“Run and Run,” “No Easy Street”), a cello-stoked, Beatles-ish ditty about drug crashes (“Sleep Comes Down”), and a bite at that year’s Yankee stooge in office (“President Gas”), as well as Flo and Eddie cameos and a literate nod to Ma Barker and “Hamburger Mary.” Butler pokes at his own narcissism on the band’s biggest hit (“Love My Way”), and the title song’s a freight train of flanging guitars, inescapable choruses, and an image-rich narrative that could’ve been a Rotten/Bowie/Dylan cowrite.

via Apple Music