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 Jarivs Cocker
Jarvis (2006) Rating (Out of 10): 8 Tracklisting: The Loss Adjuster (Excerpt 1)/Don't Let Him Waste Your Time/Black Magic/Heavy Weather/I Will Kill Again/Baby's Coming Back To Me/Fat Children/From Auswitch to Ipswitch/Disney Time/Tonite/Big Julie/The Loss Adjuster (Excerpt 2)/Quantum Theory Yeah, Jarvis is back! We all knew he couldn’t stay away for long! When Pulp made their final farewell in 2001 with the very fine ‘We Love Life’ it seemed like only a matter of time before Jarvis would be back in one form or another. It was just a matter of when and it what context. But 6 years down the line and even the most hardy believers must have started to doubt his return. But just as we started to doubt whether he would ever make a comeback at all Jarvis made a very spectacular return with his debut solo album ‘Jarvis’. This album marks a bit of a departure from the traditional Pulp style that we have associated with Jarvis for so long. It’s not a million miles away from the Pulp sound. The trademark Jarvis humour and fun is still there but the synthesiser dominated pop songs are gone to be replaced by more of a guitar-led rock sound. It’s something that really works for an older Jarvis, giving him a more mature, experienced sound. There’s a good mixture of songs on the album, from the lively and catchy ‘Heavy Weather’, to the funny ‘Fat Children’ and the soft and poignant ‘Quantum Theorem’. You really get the impression that Jarvis is really displaying a portfolio of everything that he can do. In fine Jarvis tradition the songs are not just songs but little mini stories, little snapshots of an existence. They’re the kind of songs that reel you in, making you get really involved in them. Jarvis celebrates the grey, gritty, grimy sides of existence, telling tales of misfits and outcasts. It’s a theme that really suits him, and it’s good that he has continued this on in his solo work. The bonus track hidden at the end of the album is an absolute gem. With the glorious title of ‘Cunts are running the world’ it contains one of the funniest lines of lyrics ever “Some people say the cream will always rise up to the top, but I say shit floats!” This is a very Jarvis kind of song and although it acts as a nice surprise bonus track hidden away at the end of the album, it would also have made a brilliant proper album track. This album sees Jarvis really prove himself as a musician. In pulp in undisputedly proved himself to be king of the front men, but here he displays skills that take him above and beyond merely a singer and front man. Playing guitar and keyboard on the majority of the tracks and having written the music for many of the songs, Jarvis shows that he really has grown into a ‘proper’ musician and has developed into a really good all-rounder. It’s a shame that Jarvis stayed away from the spotlight for so long. His first solo album proves without a doubt that Jarvis has a lot of life left in him yet, and should be around for a long time to come. Bring on Jarvis solo album number 2! Send A Comment BACK TO INDEX BACK TO MUSIC REVIEWS INDEX |
