In the wake of their debut album 77, Talking Heads found themselves critically successful and, thanks to its single Psycho Killer, noted for David Byrne’s cold-eyed observation songs. On their second album they ditched the brass section and any remaining cutesiness, and set about inventing much of the 80s.
They’d already made an impact on critics with a sound that seemed to take the existential blankness of European art-rock and filter it through a uniquely American lens, like a preppy Albert Camus, a style that, with its brainy lyrics and jerkily funky rhythms, would have a massive influence on any new group out of Britain or the US who didn’t want to sound like the Sex Pistols.
