Pink Elephants

10/22/1997 3:00 AM, LAUNCH
Chris Morris

Bad Seeds linchpin Harvey returns with a second English-language rendering of songs by the great French depravo of the '60s, Serge Gainsbourg. Women, wine, dope, cigarettes, and song were ol' Serge's metier (probably in that order), and Harvey has culled a satisfactorily seedy selection of chansons, sung in an apropos hung-over groan. Unfortunately, the creme de la creme of Gainsbourg's oeuvre--including such celebrated tunes as "69 Erotic Year," "Harley Davidson," "Bonnie & Clyde," "Lemon Incest" and "Initials B.B."--were included on Harvey's 1995 salute, Intoxicated Man. And sadly, former Nick Cave paramour Anita Lane, who served as Harvey's foil on the original set, appears in a much-diminished role on Pink Elephants; the heavy-breathing duet "I Love You...Nor Do I" (better known in the French: "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus") is the incontestable highlight of an okay but not really top-shelf homage to one of continental song's great sleazeballs.