The Stranglers "La Folie" 1981*** (2001 reissue****)

It has now been more than 2 months that the COVID-19 pandemic is sweeping Europe, and we seem to be past its high point. The numbers of those dying and getting hospitalized are falling and the lockdown is gradually being lifted, though it'll be many months before concerts start again, which is -given the circumstances- a minor problem, but a problem nonetheless. I had tickets for a number of concerts this summer and spring, and most of them are postponed for next year. But who knows if Aerosmith, Eric Clapton or Deep Purple -to name some of the older ones in my agenda- will still be gigging then. The focus is now on the financial implications, with many criticizing the lockdowns as a panicked and disproportional response to a disease that mostly kills the old, sick and overweight. And it's not only Trump-like idiots who share that view; I'm thinking of a French philosopher who wrote that we should accept death by corona as inevitable because "while we're trying to save the lives of those over 65, it is our children who will have to pay those debts" - which is what everyone would have us believe: there's going to be a crisis and we'll all have to abolish some of our rights and work harder for less because "everyone has to make sacrifices". Well, obviously not every one. There's such a thing as sacred, holy, and untouchable - and that's the profits of Jeff Bezos and the rest of the billionaire class, whom every crisis finds hoarding an even bigger percentage of the world's wealth. Heaven forbid we should spread the wealth more equally to get out of the crisis together, much better to let the old 'uns die. Saves money on pensions and health care, and cuts down state expenditure - just what Milton Freedman ordered. But let's cut it short here because it looks wrong to politicize in a piece about The Stranglers, one of the least political groups to come out of the punk movement. I only got into the pandemic discussion because of Dave Greenfield, who died recently with Covid-19.

The band's former singer Hugh Cornwell twitted about Greenfield that "he was the difference between The Stranglers and every other punk band", which is spot on - at least concerning their early albums: he injected their aggression with a dose of melody and complexity, sparking comparisons to The Doors when all other punks were influenced by the raw power of early rockabilly, The Who and Stones. Obituaries also invariably stressed that he composed The Stranglers' big hit "Golden Brown", which drove me to pull the album containing that song out of the shelf and give it a few listens. This probably is where they leave their punk beginnings completely behind, employing Bowie producer Tony Visconti to give them a more commercial sound. "Golden Brown" is head and shoulders above the rest of the songs, a waltzy tune with nostalgic vocals and beautiful harpsichord arpeggios. According to Cornwell the lyrics "work on two levels. It's about heroin and also about a girl" - because when The Stranglers decided they'd dedicate their album to "love" it couldn't be just about romantic love like with other bands. So every song is dedicated to another facet of love as a form of madness, hence the title La Folie. Opener "Non Stop" is about a nun's love for God, a sunny pop tune dominated by 60's-style organ, "Pin Up" is another upbeat poppy number, while the irony of bouncy first single "Let Me Introduce You to the Family" is made more explicit by a cover depicting a Mafia family scene. "Tramp" is another of the album's highlights, a bright tale about the love of freedom with nice bass licks and keyboard licks. "Everybody Loves You When You're Dead" is a rhythmic song with (typically for The Stranglers) cynical lyrics. "How to Find True Love and Happiness in the Present Day" and third single "La Folie" are spoken rather than sung - the latter is a slow piece reminiscent of Serge Gainsbourg. The melody is pretty and the French vocal -by bassist Jean Jacques Burnel- almost sensual, so you could be forgiven to think they've actually written a bona fide love song. In reality it's inspired by the then-recent criminal case of Japanese Paris resident Issei Sagawane who murdered, fucked, and ate (literally, and in that order) a female fellow student. "La Folie" indeed! The 2001 CD release adds a number of interesting bonus tracks. This is the one I have, albeit mine came in a cheap cardboard digipack with badly-printed booklet, a giveaway by the Greek yellow press daily Espresso newspaper - no, I don't buy that paper, I got it 2nd hand from a stack of press freebie CD's sold at the market for €1 each. Bonus tracks include the Django swing of "Cruel Garden", rocker "You Hold The Key To My Love", mid-tempo "Vietnamerica", and excellent Doors-y ballad "Strange Little Girl". Its inclusion here is worth an extra *, so I'll give the reissue 4*. 

***** for Golden Brown, Strange Little Girl

**** for Tramp, La Folie, Cruel Garden

*** for Non Stop, Everybody Loves You When You're Dead, Let Me Introduce You To The Family, Pin Up, How To Find True Love And Happiness In The Present Day, Vietnamerica, Love 30, You Hold The Key To My Love In Your Hands

** for Ain't Nothin' To It, The Men They Love To Hate, It Only Takes Two To Tango,

* for Cocktail Nubiles