SUCH POLISHED POP

FURNITURE 'The Wrong People' (Stiff Records SEEZ 64)

IF SUCCESS in the pop game is partly dependent on timing, then Furniture must be one of the unluckiest groups I've come across. After years of wallowing in the margins, suddenly last summer they were primed for national recognition as 'Brilliant Mind' moved elegantly through the charts. The essential follow-through came too late, however, due to Stiff going into receivership.

Having neither a particularly strong visual image nor a gimmick that the public can easily latch onto, Furniture will have to settle for their clean-limbed, tormented-mind pop slowly seducing us. That's a state of affairs I'm sure they're happy with — above all, they're proud of their state of the art.

You can hear that much throughout the grooves of 'The Wrong People'. Furniture are not only a technically awesome group — for example, hear the near free-jazz piano on 'Pierre's Fight' — they also know the value of a very well-turned lyric. Next to Gangway and Depeche Mode, they're probably the only people in pop able to dig past the surface glitter of relationships yet make their observations totally accessible.

'Brilliant Mind' and the current single, 'Love Your Shoes', which are both included, are pretty much accurate samples of the contents of this album. The accent is very much on hearts being broken to the sound of plucked violas and the strange strength that can be gained when relationships fail. Jim Irvin's voice is a perfect vehicle for the sentiments. He is able, without affectation, to project sorrow, mania and despair.

Having said all this, there are moments when Furniture start to creak, as with the panoramic 'Sound Of The Bell', which veers too far into Madness country for my taste. A temporary lapse on an otherwise sparkling record. Take a mortgage out on your bedsit and investigate 'The Wrong People' now.

Jack Barron