Reinventing a Man Who Stayed Too Long

Jay Leno is having a good old time these days making fun of rock’s elder statesmen. During one recent monologue, the “Tonight Show” host asked: “Do you know how many encores the Rolling Stones are doing on their current tour? Five--and that includes three songs and two naps.”

Another British band, the now-defunct Psychedelic Furs, has taken some belated chiding recently for having stuck around well past its prime. And the critic isn’t a late-night talk-show host, but the band’s founder, Richard Butler.

“We definitely did hang on too long,” he said by phone from a tour stop in Denver. “I know I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but I wish we had never made ‘Midnight to Midnight,’ ” the group’s 1987 album.

“Both the process of making it and hearing the end result . . . that was the lowest point for us. We were down to three members by then [out of six at its peak], and we had no direction. We had nothing prepared when we went into the studio, so those songs were just forced out of us. And I think it shows.”

Although the biggest seller of its seven albums made during the Furs’ 1980-89 recording career, “Midnight to Midnight” was, by most accounts, an artistic disappointment. Following glowing reviews of its early albums, the Village Voice’s Robert Christgau wrote that “Midnight to Midnight” provided “a lush, enthralling, perfectly intelligent alternative to the real thing.”

Out of the Furs’ ashes has come Love Spit Love, which took its name from the title of an erotic-art exhibit in New York and whose current lineup includes lead guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Chris Wilson and drummer Frank Ferrer.

The formation of the group, which plays Wednesday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana, harks back to 1992, after Butler moved from his native England to New York. Following the Furs’ breakup, he was seeking a new outlet for his creative musings and found an ally in the like-minded Fortus. The guitarist and songwriter had impressed Butler while his band, Pale Divine, was the opening act on the Furs’ final tour.

The two began collaborating and later were joined by Ferrer and bassist Tim Butler (Richard’s brother and fellow Furs alumnus). In 1994, the band released its debut album, “Love Spit Love,” a promising, if scattered, collection laced with shimmering guitar textures, hard-charging rhythms and Butler’s signature, snarling vocals.

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Butler, 43, is enthusiastic about the band’s progress on the recently released follow-up, “Trysome Eatone,” which he attributes to time the musicians have had to get to know each other.

“This isn’t a Richard Butler solo or side-project. . . . Love Spit Love is very much an evolving band,” he said. “We’re trying to define and develop our own sound while still being somewhat spontaneous and experimental. It’s definitely a challenge to balance all of that.”

Some songs on the new album, including “Believe” and “7 Years,” wouldn’t have sounded out of place on an old Furs album. Still, there are subtle but significant departures, including a harder edge that lies closer to post-punk and industrial rock than the atmospheric sonic layers of the Furs style.

There are lyrical changes too. Butler relies less on poetic abstractions while offering several straightforward narratives, such as the introspective “Friends” and his brief take on a bit of British history titled “November 5.” (The latter is based on the story of Guy Fawkes, who was executed for attempting in 1605 to assassinate King James I and to blow up the Houses of Parliament .)

What’s important, Butler said, is being unafraid to attempt new approaches while remaining true to yourself.

“I don’t want to push things too far in a totally new direction, because as a new band, we’re still carving out whatever it is that will give Love Spit Love its own identity,” he said. “So we keep the studio trickery to a minimum. . . . I mean, we’re not gonna jump on the electronica bandwagon or anything. We just try and capture our sound as it naturally progresses.”

Although Butler declined to play any Furs songs during Love Spit Love’s initial tour three years ago, he says he’s now comfortable playing a few, including “Mr. Jones” and an acoustic version of the popular “Love My Way.”

Just don’t get any ideas about a Furs reunion.

“I am still passionate about making new music,” he said. “With the Furs, we had gotten very ballad-y, orchestrated and too poppy-sounding. I know we lost our edge. When I think about all these bands having reunions these days; I don’t know. . . . It just seems to me that they’re cheatin’ themselves. Why not explore some other options?”

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* Love Spit Love, Subcircus and Ugly Beauty play Wednesday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor, Santa Ana. 8 p.m. $15-$17. (714) 957-0600.