Albums by this artist

We Love Life (2001)

This Is Hardcore (1998)

Pulp

This Is Hardcore

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» PAUL FOREMAN | STAFF WRITER

Pulp This Is Hardcore Island, 1998 RiYL: David Bowie, Supergrass, Oasis, Belle & Sebastian

Pulp has been going on about sex and the modern age for more than 15 years now. Having wallowed in obscurity for the first 10 of these years, the band finally managed a successful album in the early '90s with His N' Hers. With a hit under his belt, lead singer Jarvis Cocker immediately established himself as England's sexpert, via his clever, erotic storytelling and ability to entrance audiences with a captivating presence and uniquely graceful dance moves.

In 1995, the single "Common People" took the U.K. by storm, largely because of the band's performance at the Glastonbury Festival. Different Class, the album that followed, garnered reviews that confirmed Pulp's status as one of country's top acts. Two years on, in search for the inevitable follow-up single, Pulp tripped over its own feet with the less-than-inspired "Help The Aged," only to rebound later with the elegantly sleazy title track of This Is Hardcore.

The idea is to delve into the rawest, dirty aspects of life -- in other words, the "hardcore." But what we really find is another album laden with sexual themes and narrative commentaries on modern British life.

Still, it works, and as long as Cocker can come up with a sharp hook and a slightly new perspective on his usual themes, it will continue to. It is impossible to deny the effectiveness, for example, of Cocker's grittiest lyric on the record (from "Seductive Barry"): "I'm so ready and willing and able it's untrue / to act out this love scene and make my dreams come true / and how many others have touched themselves whilst looking at pictures of you / Yes I do / Yes I do." Who else could pull this off? Tracks such as "Dishes" display the band's ability to pen beautiful melodies about more respectable subjects: how to deal with growing old and accepting that you're not going to be performing any magnificent feats in the near future.

For those who still can't find anything redeeming here, skip to track seven, "A Little Soul." The main riff from Smokey Robinson's classic "Tracks Of My Tears" is lifted and transplanted into a song in which the narrator, a self-proclaimed bad father, teaches his son to treat women right and avoid the mistakes he made: "Everybody's telling me you look like me / but please don't turn out like me."

Like Different Class, this record's quality control drops a bit at the end with a few throwaways, but face the facts: Who puts on Radiohead's OK Computer without turning it off before "The Tourist?" [Ed. note: mostly everyone I know]. Genius is not always coupled with perfection.

Thus, it seems This Is Hardcore finds Pulp maintaining its sexual prowess while maturing at the same time -- lush strings, crunchy guitars and Farfisa organs are nice touches. Not to mention Cocker's ability to pinpoint the feeling of the times: "We were brought up on the Space Race / Now they expect you to clean toilets / When you have seen how big the world is / How can you make do with this?" Good question.

PAUL FOREMAN |