"[2] Momus felt he would be greeted with more attention on Creation Records, while also conceding that being signed to the label would aesthetically "be a more toxic environment in some ways and there would be a certain kind of hideous Sixties revivalism saying it all goes back to the Pebbles compilation.

[4] Momus used a full band on The Poison Boyfriend, consisting of bassist Fein O'Lochlainn, drummer Terry Neilson, keyboardist Dean Klerat and extra percussionist Arun G.

"[2] Subjects throughout the album include sexual depravity, prurient postcards, "nested despair" and acerbic tale-telling,[7] with the lyrical style incorporating character sketches, complex symbolism, flowery language and elaborate metaphors.

[5] Of the songs on side two, "Situation Comedy Blues" incorporates a mock-Motown Sound,[6] while "Sex for the Disabled" is a quasi-soul "horny sex rap" in a Phil Spector-style Wall of Sound arrangement that Doug Brod of Trouser Press felt was a pastiche of Barry White,[6][8] and which Huey compared to Prince's "Purple Rain".

"[5][6] Described by Huey as "disarming" and the album's biggest stylistic change, "Closer to You" is a deliberate self-parody in which Momus "croons horny, confessional come-ons like a bookish Barry White.

[9] Released in July 1987 on Creation Records, his first album on the label, The Poison Boyfriend received favourable critical reception,[10] and in his book How Soon is Now?

[7] In a retrospective review, Doug Brod of Trouser Press wrote that "on The Poison Boyfriend, Currie dispenses with the religious imagery and enlists a backup band, while taking a less studied approach to consistently ace material," while finding Momus' "bayonet wit" to be most obvious on "Sex for the Disabled," which he felt was "a horny faux-soul sex rap with everything but the heavy breathing.

"[12] NME then included it in the list's extended "100 Great Albums You've Never Heard" form, where Anderson elaborated: "there was a delicate, less brazen element to the poetry, perfectly capturing the mood of Jacques Brel with their beautifully intense indifference.