STRANGLERS ARE GETTING A GRIP ON U.S. AUDIENCES

During 12 years together, the Stranglers have seen their music undergo some radical changes. And now the British band is just beginning to garner success in the United States.

At one time, the band’s records were banned in England for obscenity. They were described in early days by British journalist Ira Robbins as having “violently emotional lyrics and bitterly spat vocals.” However, the political and social commentary has become more subtle.

“We’re a lot older now,” lead singer and guitarist Hugh Cornwell said lightheartedly from a tour stop in Minneapolis, adding that all four members are in their mid-30s. “Now, we try to write songs that have as simple lyrics and music as possible. We want simplicity without being banal. We’re getting more literary and more lucid.”

They will play at 8 p.m. Monday in Montezuma Hall at San Diego State University.

The band, formed in 1975, originally was called the Gildford Stranglers. Unlike most of the bands from England’s punk and new wave era, the Stranglers consist of the original four members. They have outlasted such notorious punk bands as the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks.

The Stranglers’ latest album, “Dreamtime,” on Epic Records, has worked its way onto the American charts. Before that, the group had an underground following in the United States, but with the fair amount of air play given to the singles and videos “Always the Sun” off “Dreamtime” and “Skin Deep,” a cut off the band’s previous LP, “Aural Sculpture,” the Stranglers have become a commercial success.

“Our audiences have gotten bigger here since our last tour four years ago,” Cornwell said. “It’s still a little frustrating because in a lot of towns we were overestimated and put into venues that were too big for us to fill. But we’ve got success in Europe. And in France the record has been fabulously successful.”

Not only has the band outgrown its reputation of being abusive and sexist, it also has changed musically. It has gone from the atmospheric sound of synthesizers and the spacey special effects on the 1981 concept album “The Meninblack,” to layered horns on the tracks of “Aural Sculpture” and “Dreamtime.”

“The brass is really not all that outrageous,” Cornwell said. “When we worked with producer Laurie Latham on ‘Aural Sculpture,’ she suggested we use horns. We’re now traveling with a group of young whippersnapper horn players for the tour. It makes our old stuff sound more contemporary.”

Although the group is enthusiastic about its newfound popularity in the United States, it hasn’t always had good luck in the States. During a 1980 New York appearance, all of the group’s uninsured band equipment was stolen. The group continued the tour with rented instruments. Later that year, after a riotous concert in Nice, France, the Stranglers were jailed for two weeks because, Cornwell said, authorities believed that they had fomented the outbreak.

“So far, this tour has gone much smoother,” Cornwell said. “But this tour was perfectly timed and has really helped our record sales in the United States.”