Pulp
We Love Life
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Pulp
We Love Life
Rough Trade/Sanctuary, 2001
RiYL: Nick Cave, David Bowie, The Smiths, Belle & Sebastian |
The title phrase is something of an ironic choice, as We Love Life teems with behind-the-scenes snapshots from the lives of all range of misfits and fuck-ups. Sometimes Cocker is a fly on the wall with no apparent direct connection to the tale at hand; at others, he appears to have only second-hand knowledge of the story he’s telling. “The Night That Minnie Timperley Died” seems to be a blend of the two, chronicling the last hours of a doomed young woman just coming into her own. The littlest details, from the motive of Minnie’s killer (“he only did what he did / because you looked like one of his kids”) to descriptions of the patrons watching her brother’s DJ set (“football scarves / the girls drink halves”) are stunning in their ability to transport the listener smack into Pulp’s skewed sonic world.
The unseen role of nature in everyday life is a dominant theme here, threading itself through the songs in truly unusual ways. The narrator in “The Birds In Your Garden” only consummates a relationship after said animals compel him to “take her now / don’t be scared.” In “The Trees,” a bereaved lover shoots birds out of spite and curses “the useless trees” producing the air his partner will never breathe again (“carving your name a thousand times won’t bring you back to me / I might as well go and tell it to the trees”).
The first two tracks (“Weeds” and “Weeds II (The Origin Of The Species)”) are further master strokes, crafted with such skill that they could legitimately be interpreted as having been written from the perspective of the plant. The songs also work as ingenious metaphors for the divide between the classes, the more privileged of whom only mix with the have-nots when they “fancy booze and drugs.” But unrest bubbles below the surface in “Weeds II,” as Cocker whispers over alluring trip-hop backing, “weeds must be kept under strict control / or they will destroy everything in their path.”
It all comes together with breathtaking synergy on the eight-minute “Wickerman,” a scrapbook of bittersweet memories set to cinematic, string-laden accompaniment. It’s as if we’re walking right next to Cocker as he traverses a town and its polluted river, along the way recalling what sounds like a melange of all the heartbreak and romantic exhiliration connected to the places along the way.
Musically, We Love Life is just as thrilling, certainly due in part to the production work of revered U.K. singer/songwriter Scott Walker. The band’s trademark orchestral touches emphasize the romantic kiss-off at the core of “Bad Cover Version” and the surging emotion of “The Trees,” while gloriously hooky, upbeat guitar rock and classic vocal melodies perfectly set the mood in “Weeds,” “The Night That Minnie Timperley Died” and “Bob Lind (The Only Way Is Down).” Closer “Sunrise” has a little bit of everything, fluttering from early Verve-style psychedelia to a cathartic finale of blazing electric guitar and a choir of wordless wailing.
Although it’d be a shame if this indeed Pulp’s swan song, it would have been tough to conjure a better parting shot than We Love Life. Even though it was first released in the U.K. and 2001 and didn't surface in North America until the summer of 2002, this is easily one of the best albums of either year. It's also one of the greatest achievements of Pulp’s career.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"