In any event, “Talk of the Town,” which would have been an absolutely perfect successor to “Brass in Pocket,” never got released as a single here in the U.S., but it sure as shit did in the U.K., where it went to #8, cementing the Pretenders as reliable singles artists there. *(Handclaps make good songs great and great songs timeless.)Īll in all, it adds up to an utterly great and timeless single, not just the best song on Extended Play, but the best song on Pretenders II, on which it got recycled later on in 1981. Once again, her singing is off-the-charts sublime (which doesn’t seem like it should be a thing, but in this case it is), and they even goose it up by adding handclaps in the background, but buried too deep in the mix to fully invoke The Handclap Rule.* I watch you still from a distance then go No guitar solo on the highly efficient “Talk of the Town,” instead, they head into one last sublime verse, the opening couplet one of the most true things Hynde has ever written, the rest of it also insanely lovely. You’ve changed (you’ve changed) (you’ve changed) Both are way buried in the mix when compared to the vocals, but once you notice them, they become utterly indispensable.Īlso indispensable: the chorus, featuring overdubbed and echoing Hyndes all singing one of her most lovely melodies. At the back half of the long verses, Chambers switchs to a double backbeat as Honeyman-Scott interjects one-note chimes. Meanwhile, Chambers & Honeyman-Scott are right there as well. Just check out all of the amazing things doing on that first verse: the quick rushing of “another I know” the way she adds syllables to “crowww-howdd” and “hear-eeerrd” and her quiver on “towwwwwn” as the song collapses around her. That Chrissie Hynde is one of our greatest singers is totally and completely indisputable and “Talk of the Town” just might be her finest moment. “Talk of the Town” opens with a tangle of electric and acoustic guitars, Chrissie Hynde and James Honeyman-Scott weaving in and out of each other until Martin Chambers stops the song with a pair of snare beats in order to let Honeyman-Scott play a simple repeating riff that you instantly want to hear again, but you’re gonna have to wait, son, because Chrissie Hynde is singing. First, lets talk about the songs on an EP that I treasure as much as Chronic Town or The Cost of Living EP, leading off with this incredible single, a pure pop confection as good as anything Hynde ever wrote. Or least up until the point where Pretenders II came out. To the point where I’m pretty sure that Pretenders were my favorite band in the world that spring and early summer. In 19, Pretenders released two world-beating singles in the U.K.: “Talk of the Town” b/w “Cuban Slide” and “Message of Love” b/w “Porcelain.” All four songs - plus a smokin’ live version of “ Precious” - were released on an EP called Extended Play in the spring of 1981.Īnd it killed me.
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