For Tim Butler and his brother Richard, the bassist and lead singer, respectively, of the band the Psychedelic Furs, the foundation of the band is the brothers’ relationship — and it’s a healthy one.

No sad tales to tell that rival those of Oasis’ Gallagher brothers with their legendary arguments and brawls, which Tim Butler brought up in a phone call in a comparison of extremes.

“Richard and I get on very well. Even in the ’80s, when we would fight, we would be the best of friends in five minutes,” Butler said, adding, “Blood is thicker than music.”

The Psychedelic Furs began their latest tour Oct. 14 in New Orleans, and the band comes to Honolulu for its first show in the islands tonight at The Republik.

The Butlers and the band have not mellowed over the past decades.

“It’s a heavier rock show than you might imagine,” Butler said, calling from his home in small-town Liberty, Ky., in advance of the band’s tour.

Peppering his half of the conversation with little jokes and matter-of-fact observations, the bassist spoke in a soft, dry voice that retains the British accent of his childhood spent in England.

Speaking of his older brother, Butler said, “Richard has one of the most distinctive voices in music and he is one of the best lyricists of the last 40 years.”

Throughout the band’s different incarnations, the brothers — co-founders of the band — have always worked together. When the band went on hiatus in 1991, the two went on to play in a new music project called Love Spit Love that Richard had formed; both brothers were on board when the Psychedelic Furs reformed in 2001.

The genesis of the post-punk band took place in 1977 in Teddington, Middlesex, England, while Butler was still in high school. The band’s music was informed early on by that of its underground predecessors in Iggy & the Stooges and the Velvet Underground.

“Punk was on its last legs,” said Butler of his take on the music scene in England then. “We wanted to separate ourselves from the other bands. … We didn’t know how to write at first. But over the years, and on our albums, we’ve gotten better.”

The band still draws comparisons to the Velvet Underground.

“Although we get compared to them, I like to think that we play with the energy and aggression of the Sex Pistols,” Butler said.

Butler didn’t even know how to play an instrument when Richard first asked him if he wanted to start a band. Richard, who loved art, thought of music as another way of communicating.

“I dreamt of playing drums,” said Butler, “but I told him that I would play bass because I thought it was easier to learn!”

Most of the material for the band’s first album, “The Psychedelic Furs,” which was released in 1980, was produced by Steve Lillywhite, a legendary English producer working with the Columbia label. Over the years, Lillywhite has worked with the likes of U2, Peter Gabriel, the Dave Matthews Band and the Killers — one of Butler’s current favorite bands.

“Lillywhite had worked on the album ‘Boy’ with U2,” said Butler. “Both U2 and he were trying to build a name at that time. Lillywhite told me he never did two albums by the same band, but we asked and he agreed: He also did our second, ‘Talk Talk Talk’!”

One of the band’s early fans was actress Molly Ringwald, who told the now-deceased film director and writer John Hughes about “Pretty in Pink,” a song off the second album, “Talk Talk Talk,” from 1981.

Ringwald had asked Hughes to create a movie inspired by the song, said Butler; however, Hughes’ interpretation of the song was a little different from the band’s. Hughes wrote a story about a plucky, upbeat underdog who, unintentionally, overcomes her lowly status as she falls in love with a wealthy classmate from her high school.

”The original song was about a girl who sleeps around and doesn’t get respect,” said Butler. “‘Pretty in Pink’ (the movie) was completely the opposite. The term ‘Pretty in Pink’ actually refers to being in the nude.”

Although popular on U.S. college radio at the time, the band’s biggest break this side of the pond came from the new version of “Pretty in Pink” that was recorded for the 1986 movie soundtrack, which heavily featured new-wave music by such acts as New Order and Echo & the Bunnymen. The movie was hugely successful.

“I love the original version better of the song,” Butler said when asked about his preference. “But the movie got us through to a larger audience. Younger girls started coming to our shows. We did lose us some hard-core fans. It used to be teenage fans coming to our shows. Now it’s families!”

The Psychedelic Furs have always been forward-thinking in their sound, though they’ve retained their association with new wave and post-punk music. Their new music also is smartly influenced by today’s peers and even a touch of pop-punk.

“We love music, and we are influenced by what we hear on the radio now,” Butler said.

The band, which has seven albums in its catalog, is working on a new album. The last album, “World Outside,” was recorded in 1991, the year they disbanded.

“We are making demos later this year,” Butler said. “We’ve been burned before; we are taking our time.”

Butler describes the rural area where he now lives in Kentucky with his wife, Robyn, a native of the area, as being similar to the countryside he grew up in in England. He left home for London at age 17 and spent many years afterward in Manhattan.

“New York is great if you want to do something 24/7,” he said, “but this is nice to me — to walk outside in the fields and see the trees. I look forward to coming home.”