Patrick Bateman's favorite band is Talking Heads, an iconic American rock band. He frequently listens to their music, especially their 1988 album Naked.
Patrick Bateman's Musical Tastes
Patrick Bateman, the protagonist of Bret Easton Ellis's novel American Psycho, is an obsessive connoisseur of 1980s pop culture, with music being a significant part of his meticulously curated world. His musical preferences are not just background noise; they serve as a meticulously cataloged soundtrack to his opulent and increasingly disturbing life. While he famously delivers verbose, pseudo-intellectual critiques of various artists like Huey Lewis and the News, Genesis, and Whitney Houston, his true allegiance lies with the art-rock pioneers.
Talking Heads: Bateman's Premier Choice
Talking Heads stands out as Bateman's undisputed favorite. He is noted for his particular fondness for their album Naked, often playing it throughout the narrative. This band's unique blend of new wave, post-punk, and art-funk, characterized by David Byrne's distinctive vocals and unconventional lyrical themes, aligns with the era's sophisticated, yet often detached, cultural landscape that Bateman inhabits. The band's intellectual and sometimes unsettling vibe resonates with his character, providing a soundtrack to a world where, as the narrative suggests, "As things fell apart, nobody paid much attention" to the underlying chaos.
Key Aspects of Bateman's Musical Preferences:
- Era Specificity: His taste is almost exclusively rooted in the late 1980s, reflecting the peak of his consumerist and psychopathic tendencies.
- Analytical Appreciation: Bateman doesn't just listen; he dissects. He offers detailed, albeit often self-serving and superficial, analyses of albums and artists, showcasing his need for control and understanding, even of abstract art forms.
- Contradictory Nature: While he meticulously praises mainstream pop acts, his genuine preference for a more complex band like Talking Heads hints at a deeper, albeit twisted, aesthetic sensibility.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Favorite Band | Talking Heads |
| Preferred Album | Naked (1988) |
| Musical Genre | New Wave, Post-Punk, Art Rock, Pop |
| Significance | Represents his sophisticated (and often contradictory) taste amidst mainstream pop, reflecting the intellectual yet detached atmosphere of the late 1980s in American Psycho. |
| Cultural Context | Part of his extensive knowledge and critique of 1980s music, which he uses to project an image of cultured refinement, often serving as a monologue backdrop for his internal thoughts and actions. |
For further insight into Patrick Bateman's character and the cultural critiques embedded in American Psycho, you can refer to discussions about the novel's themes on resources like Wikipedia's page on American Psycho. To learn more about the band itself, explore Talking Heads' Wikipedia page.
