vinylfanatics.com

**The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads**
★★★★☆

There's something beautifully perverse about a band calling their live album "The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads" – it's the sort of meta-textual joke that could only come from David Byrne's gloriously twisted mind. Released in 1982, this double LP captures the New York art-rockers at their most primal and propulsive, documenting their evolution from twitchy CBGB punks into the polyrhythmic powerhouse that would soon conquer the world.

By 1982, Talking Heads had already established themselves as the thinking person's new wave band, with four studio albums that progressively expanded their sonic palette from stark minimalism to Afrobeat-influenced groove machines. But live performance remained their secret weapon – the place where Byrne's neurotic energy, Tina Weymouth's hypnotic basslines, Chris Frantz's tribal drumming, and Jerry Harrison's textural guitar work coalesced into something approaching religious ecstasy.

The album draws from performances between 1977 and 1981, effectively serving as both historical document and greatest hits collection. What emerges is a band in constant flux, never content to simply recreate their studio recordings. The early material, recorded at CBGB and other dive venues, crackles with punk urgency. "Psycho Killer" sounds genuinely unhinged, Byrne's French asides delivered with the manic precision of a man on the edge. "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel" strips away the studio polish to reveal the song's beating heart – a love letter written in morse code.

But it's when the band starts incorporating their Remain in Light-era material that things get truly transcendent. "Born Under Punches" becomes a 15-minute journey into the heart of darkness, with additional percussionist Steve Scales and keyboardist Bernie Worrell (borrowed from Parliament-Funkadelic) turning the stage into a ritual space. Byrne's vocals shift from paranoid mutter to gospel shout, while the rhythm section locks into grooves so deep they threaten to open portals to other dimensions.

The real revelation here is how these songs breathe in a live setting. "Once in a Lifetime" – already a masterpiece on record – becomes something approaching a shamanic experience, Byrne's existential questioning amplified by the communal energy of the crowd. "Take Me to the River" transforms from Al Green's sensual plea into something more urgent and desperate, the band's white-boy funk given weight by their obvious reverence for the source material.

Weymouth and Frantz, often overshadowed by their more flamboyant bandmates, prove themselves to be one of rock's great rhythm sections. Their interplay on "The Great Curve" is particularly stunning – she provides the melodic anchor while he explores every possible subdivision of the beat. Harrison, meanwhile, proves himself a master of space and texture, knowing exactly when to add colour and when to step back and let the groove breathe.

Of course, this being Talking Heads, there are moments of pure oddball genius. "Houses in Motion" becomes a hypnotic mantra, while "Life During Wartime" strips away all pretense to reveal its punk DNA. Byrne's between-song banter is minimal but telling – this is a band that lets the music do the talking.

The production, handled by the band themselves, captures both the intimacy of small clubs and the grandeur of larger venues without sacrificing the raw energy that made their live shows legendary. The mix is surprisingly dynamic for an early '80s recording, with each instrument occupying its own space in the sonic spectrum.

Nearly four decades later, The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads stands as perhaps the definitive document of one of America's most important bands. It captures them at the peak of their powers, before solo projects and internal tensions would eventually tear them apart. More importantly, it serves as a reminder that for all their art-school intellectualism and worldly influences, Talking Heads were, at their core, a rock band – one capable of making bodies move and minds expand in equal measure.

This isn't just a live album; it's a masterclass in how to harness nervous energy and channel it into something approaching transcendence. Essential listening for anyone who believes rock music should challenge the body and the brain simultaneously.