Sister of Mine

Emerging from the incipient post-punk London scene with a healthy fascination for late-'70s Bowie, the then-sextet kicked up a slightly monochromatic but still attractive storm on their debut. Richard Butler's Thin-White-Duke-after-smoking vocal rasp has a surprising appeal, serving up a wry, slightly detached series of lyrics on life. The members of the core band, meanwhile, had clearly honed their chops well on-stage; Ashton's lead guitar work avoids both wankery and simplicity in favour of a balanced, artistic power.

The Furs' eponymous first offering sets the base for the future; it defines post-punk to the same extent as Joy Division, Gang of Four, Teardrop Explodes and Echo and the Bunnymen. It is raw and heavy, with driving original bass and drums. "India" is a good example; it has a brooding, quiet beginning with strange telegraphic signals and turns into a brawling rocker. The record comes off as serious without being self-consciously deep, occasional toe-dipping into humorous aside ("We Love You" has Butler idly listing off things he loves, sometimes with appropriate if sarcastically delivered song quotes: "I'm in love with Frank Sinatra...fly me to the moon..."). "Imitation of Christ" is the most frazzled, with lyrics detailing someone else metaphorically nailing himself up over a light but still strange guitar line. "Wedding Song" is amusingly prescient as one of the first "white rockers go hip-hop" numbers of its kind, along with Blondie's "Rapture," though its inspiration could equally be dub. Ely lays down a pounding funk beat while Butler breaks into a midsong rap no better or worse than most such efforts of the time.

The Psychedelic Furs never sounded so good. 

One of the greatest debut albums, by any band, from any time, taken from the 2002 US remastered release to MP3 @ 320kbps

The Psychedelic Furs; The Psychedelic Furs

1.      India

2.      Sister Europe

3.      Imitation of Christ

4.      Fall

5.      Pulse

6.      We Love You

7.      Wedding Songs

8.      Blacks/Radio"

9.      Flowers

10.   Susan's Strange (Bonus)

11.   Soap Commercial (Bonus)

12.   Mack the Knife (Unreleased B Side)

13.   Flowers (Demo)