Pulp


His 'N Hers (1994)



Rating (Out of 10): 9

Tracklisting: Joyriders/Lipgloss/Acrylic Afternoons/Have You Seen Her Lately?/Babies/She's A Lady/Happy Endings/Do You Remember The First Time?/Pink Glove/Someone Like The Moon/David's Last Summer/Bonus Track

Pulp weren’t exactly what you could describe as an overnight success. Formed in Sheffield in 1978, they released 4 albums and performed countless numbers of gigs before their 5th album, ‘His n Hers’ was released and became a huge success. The success of ‘His and Hers’ is pretty much down to a combination of the fact that it was a damn good album and its absolutely impeccable timing. In 1994 the Brit Pop Scene had exploded and it was a scene that Jarvis Cocker just seemed to have been born for and in turn Jarvis was exactly what the Britpop scene needed. Providing relief from the dowdiness and sameness of Blur and Oasis and their legions of copycats, Pulp stood out from the crowd providing glamour and humour and a certain theatrical quality that was lacking from other bands. Jarvis Cocker made a very original and effective front man. Tall and gangly, he pretty much single handedly created the ‘geeky is sexy’ image and provided the band with a very unique style. And it wasn’t just the image that made them stand out from the crowd, the music was different too. While the majority of ‘Brit Pop’ bands were guitar bands, ‘Pulp’ were a keyboard led, electronica outfit with poetic, humorous lyrics. Their music exuded a raw, youthful energy and enthusiasm which made them instantly likeable. The thing about pulp was that they were fun without being a novelty act. You could laugh at them while taking their music very seriously indeed.

‘His n Hers’ is a fantastic album, full of raw, energetic pop songs, songs that make you want to dance and sing and smile. I absolutely loved this album when it was first released, and when playing it now, it hasn’t aged at all. Listening to it, it conjures images of long sunny, summer days. It’s that sort of album. There isn’t one bad song on here. ‘Do You Remember The First Time’, ‘Pink Glove, ‘Babies’ are all wonderfully, catchy tracks, very original, and arty without being inaccessible. ‘Babies’ is the song that first drew attention to Pulp for a lot of people. It was their biggest hit off this album, and it still remains one of my favourite ever Pulp songs.

‘His n Hers’ is the album that turned Pulp into the iconic band we now know and love. The fresh, original pop songs are fabulous and wonderfully infectious. Jarvis Cocker made a very unlikely sex symbol, but a sex symbol he most definitely was. From here on in, things would only get better for Pulp, but ‘His n Hers’ signaled the end of the wilderness years and the beginning of something very special.

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Different Class (1995)



Rating (Out of 10): 8.5

Mis-Shapes / Pencil Skirt / Common People / I Spy / Disco 2000 / Live Bed Show / Something Changed / Sorted For E's & Wizz / F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E / Underwear / Monday Morning / Bar Italia

Pulp’s 1995 follow-up to the excellent ‘His N Her’s’ was a huge hit and instantly propelled them into the limelight. The singles from the previous album had alerted the public to Pulp’s existence an had proven them to be a very good band, but with the release of ‘Different Class’ they were elevated into the position of possibly the best band in the UK at the time, and were definitely seen as an alternative to Blur and Oasis’ domination of the Brit Pop scene. 1996 really was Pulp’s year. Jarvis was propelled to an almost God-like status and the band just couldn’t do anything wrong. Everyone loved them. ‘Common People’, ‘Disco 2000’ and ‘Mis-shapes’ were all released as singles and all became instant anthems. Along with these tracks, another of the highlights of the album for me is the fabulous ‘I Spy’, inspired by Cocker’s hero, Scott Walker, is an amazing song and possibly the best on the album.

‘Different Class’ is a darker album than anything pulp had done before; and while it might lack the raw energy and undiluted pop glamour of ‘His N Hers’ it is an album of infinite substance, and full of very well crafted songs. Things couldn’t get any better for Pulp. It may have taken them about 17 years, but they had finally made it to the top. With excellent lyrics, funny, catchy, instantly likeable songs, ‘Different Class’, proved once and for all that Pulp really were in a totally different class from everyone else.

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This Is Hardcore (1997)



Rating (Out of 10): 7.5

Tracklisting: The Fear / Dishes / Party Hard / Help The Aged / This Is Hardcore / TV Movie / A Little Soul / I'm A Man / Seductive Barry / Sylvia / Glory Days / The Day After The Revolution

It’s very apt that there’s a song on this album called ‘The Day After The Revolution’. By 1997 the flames of Britpop had died down along with the luster of many of it’s bands. It was quite an interesting time in British music as we all waited to see what would happen next. Would the bands continue without the scene to thrive on? What sort of new bands would emerge? It was a time of many questions, and Pulp were very quick to give an answer. Rather than dying along with Britpop, they continued and released a follow up to they’re enormously successful ‘Different Class’ very quickly. In doing so they made it very clear that they hadn’t just been a product of a scene or a moment, and were still going strong despite the demise of many of their contemporaries. Yes, they were back, but some of their luster appeared to have gone. It was always going to be difficult to follow up the amazing ‘Different Class’ and ‘This Is Hardcore’ just doesn’t quite live up to expectations. It lacks the substance and sophistication of ‘Different Class’ and the raw energy of ‘ His N Hers’. Don’t get me wrong, ‘This Is Hardcore is a perfectly good album. There are some very good songs on here. ‘Help the Aged ‘ was the first single and is an amusing, jaunty little song which had a very humorous video of Jarvis going up a chair lift to heaven. Other high points include ‘This Is Hardcore’, ‘Sylvia’ and ‘Dishes’. I think the problem with this album lies in the fact that it was released too soon. It may have been better to wait a while and then release an album which heralded a bit of a reinvention, very much like they would do a few years later with ‘We Love Life’. They have tried a different style with ‘This With Hardcore’. They’ve gone for a softer, more serious style, with long emotion filled tracks like Sylvia. It is an album with some good songs and a few very special moments of beauty, but given the time and circumstances of it’s release, it just didn’t live up to expectation.

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We Love Life (2001)



Rating (Out of 10): 8.5

Tracklisting: Weeds / Weeds II / The Night That Minnie Timperley Died / The Trees / Wickerman / I Love Life / The Birds In Your Garden / Bob Lind / Bad Cover Version / Roadkill / Sunrise

It had been four years since their last album and it was starting to seem like perhaps Pulp had called it a day. ‘This Is Hardcore’ hadn’t been their best work, so maybe they’d just gone quietly, fizzled out, decided to quit while they were ahead. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth. It was not to be Pulps fate to merely fizzle out; instead they intended to go out with a bang. ‘We Love Life’ is a remarkable album, which sees Pulp reinvent themselves as a band. To all intents and purposes ‘We Love Life’ was Pulp’s one last go before they all went their separate ways and did other things, but in many ways it can be seen as a come back album. Instead of releasing an album in the same musical vein as their other releases, they created an entirely new sound for themselves. It’s a shame that this was to be their last album, because listening to it, it is evident that the possibilities are endless. ‘We Love Life’ saw Jarvis drafting in his long time idol Scott Walker to do production, and he really did a wonderful job and made a huge difference. Jarvis has always been very heavily influenced by Walker, and in this album more than any other the influence is deafening. Throughout the album Pulp adopt a very mature sound. The raw, youthful energy and excitement of previous albums has been replaced by maturity and beauty utilizing strings and vocal harmonies to great effect. On paper it doesn’t sound like Pulp, but in practice it really suits them. It is Pulp all grown up. The mood of the album is dark and haunting, and the themes are what Jarvis does best, writing about the normal, mundane lives of ordinary people. Jarvis’s songs always work as a kind of social commentary, on the lesser spotted aspects of British life and here, dressed up in strings and harmonies, they’ve never sounded better.

The First Two songs, ‘Weeds’ and ‘Weeds II’ are really one song divided into two parts. The first half Jarvis sees Jarvis singing whilst the second half he talks over the music in a very Tindersticks-esque sort of way. It is something that he does very well and which adds to the atmosphere of the album. ‘The Trees’ is a beautiful track and possibly the strongest on the album with it’s beautiful string accompaniment and poetic lyrics. ‘Wickerman’ is another track which sees Jarvis talking over the music. This time he tells us a little story, a sort of cautionary tale which is marvelously dark and chilling. All in all ‘We Love Life’ is a fine album from Pulp. It’s very different from anything they had done before and to all intents and purposes marks a reinvention for the band. Unfortunately it was to be their last album. It would have been nice to see what would have happened next, another album carrying on in the same vein, further reinvention. But even though it was to be there last album it was good that they showed another side of themselves before going off to fresh pastures. ‘We Love Life’ is definitely a very good last album and proves without a doubt that Pulp very much went out with a bang.

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