Pulp: C.L.A.S.S.I.C.O.R.D.U.D?

Pulp as a band I think are pretty mediocre to be honest. I wouldn’t care if he dumped them and went to work with someone new. I liked his work with All Seeing Eye musically more than anything Pulp have recorded. So Pulp dud, Jarvis potential classic but too early to call.

The things that some people have been criticizing them for, like the ott factor, are part of what makes their music so good. They're not afraid to go over the top; something they have in common with great pop music. Indie bands tend to try for the "tastefully restrained" approach far too often.

And I don't think there's anything twee about Pulp -- there's a bitterness and desperation that's a subtext to too many of the songs to qualify for that. People tend to play up the lyrics when talking about Pulp, but I think the music is pretty excellent as well. Their sound was always a little too much in love with chart pop and disco to ever fall victim to the grey and plodding behemoth known as Britpop.

AND even if His N Hers, A Different Class and This Is Hardcore were not three of my favorite albums, I am such a pathetic and sad Scott Walker fan that I would immediately rate any band that let him produce their record. ;-)

His'n'Hers and Different Class alone are enough: classic. How they redeemed the mid-90s for me; the Pinefox's counter-argument is tempting but a classic misunderstanding of a band through discredit- by-association.

I'm sure the curse of Momus would have put Pulp somewhere between World of Twist and Denim. And Michael Jackson, his sails full of the wind of unchallenged messianic megalomania, would have made five brilliant new pop albums all produced by Cornelius.

Within two days stevie t mentions the heartstopping 'days in the trees' by Noman and now yous mention the wonderful WORLD OF tWIST, ILILM.

"In conclusion/A meaning wasn't had/Reflecting on the situation/Of a problem/Again."

Not appearing on the "Pyramid Song" B-side anytime soon.

but i almost never play them anymore. somehow, its seems too reminiscent of 1995. it seems almost wrong to play them now, out of that context (speaking subjectively here). this is a shame really, because they are such a classic. i hardly play stereolab any more either.

sometimes bands seems very tied to a particular era, and its difficult to extricate them from that.

everything post-different class is slightly disappointing

they were good too. regardless of barney sumner's 'we are weird' comments on jukebox jury

*OK not complete. The "She's A Rainbow" cover is best ignored and I've never, alas, heard "The Sausage".

Snub TV, circa 1990. World of Twist playing 'The Storm' and then being interviewed.

"We definitely see ourselves as a pop band, not rock" says the monkey boy leader. Much nodding of heads from the other band members.

I sit there and think "Yeah yeah, like you're so radical for saying that. God this indieboy pro-pop thing is starting to annoy me"

The funny thing is, looking back I'm not even sure why I thought this. Whose line did I think World of Twist were parroting? It wasn't like I was familiar with early 80s NME rhetoric. How did I get so opinionated so young? Maybe I just thought they'd nicked ideas I'd started to have about pop music and were cross that they'd made a hash of it.

Pulp: CLASSIC by the way, but I completely sympathise with pinefox's attempt to locate his problem with consensus outside the trappings of moronic snobbery. Don't understand why everyone is going on about 'Common People'. If ever there was a song that has been completely newtered through overexposure, that is it. I tend to skip it when I listen to 'Different Class' now.

What I find weird about 'This Is Hardcore' is that it contains perhaps their two finest achievements in the title track and 'The Fear', one pretty good track in 'Help the Aged', and then the rest is just treading water. Seriously, when I first put on the album and heard the opening track, I thought it was going to be the best record ever made. Then that godawful line about sharing the same initials as Jesus came on (is there anything more annoying than when he repeats it at the end of the song in case you didn't catch how clever it was the first time round?) and disillusion set in once more. *sigh*

great to know I'm not the only one to still be into world of twist too - can I be a smartarse and say I've got the "blackpool tower suite" 12"?

That said, it's quite a while since I've played any of their albums.

intro.

(not that anyone I've ever met talks or, indeed, sings like that.)

My god. I'm selling the rest of my CDs and just keeping the Pulp, any bidders?

Is this a Pulp lyric? It's amazing whatever it is.

i think.

*damn*, i'm going to have to dig it out and listen again now, just to make sure.

am gonna listen to "hardcore" next. haven't heard that since 1997.

It didn't even come out till 1998 - this is impressive!

good point. i think "1997" has become shorthand for about four years of podding around when i first moved to glasgow. i can no longer differentiate between any of the memories. if it happened when i was living on kent road, my mind has it filed as 1997.

anyway. "hardcore" is disappointing. the first, title and closing tracks are great; the rest has left little impression.

but it's still "trees" i'm humming to myself as i liquidise my soup. (and no, that's not a euphemism.)

Quick heads up, Jarvis' book 'Good Pop Bad Pop' is on Kindle at the moment for £1

I enjoyed listening to him read it when it was serialised on radio 4 but not enough to actually buy it.

:(

Our beloved friend & bass player Steve Mackey passed away this morning. Our thoughts are with his family & loved ones. Safe travels, Steve.
We hope to catch up with you one day. All our love xx pic.twitter.com/pickNV56Nl

— Pulp (@welovepulp) March 2, 2023

This is garbage news. I knew Steve real well and he was the absolute best most shining positive force you could ever imagine

:(

I don't think I ever registered what he looked like, but loving these pictures I have been seeing of him just now.

This is garbage news. I knew Steve real well and he was the absolute best most shining positive force you could ever imagine

i was privileged to know him too and he absolutely was. Such shite news!

Ugh. This sucks.

That’s exactly it. I feel so privileged to have known the guy. Impressive CV aside he was just this magic dude. He was one of two people I gave full unconditional access to all my orchestral stems for his usage on whatever he liked. I really loved this guy. Never had lunch with him without feeling like I walked away with some lesson learned or some great advice

meant to post this here rather than the obit thread, sorry. just makes me love the guy even more.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZqdhX05X/20230302-161904.jpg

I knew and liked him a lot in the wayback years, hadn’t seen him since he produced Galang (the odd private view non-withstanding) and I’m so devastated for his family and close friends.

Just rotten. What a perfect key element for that band, always an anchor but never a weight.

Jarvis & Steve were in many ways the core duo of 90s Pulp, and he was the only member of the band on Jarvis's solo LPs, a real loss musically as well as a lovely guy.

I made a mix of some of Steve's best work, both in Pulp and as a writer/producer/remixer. Mixcloud wouldn't let me publish (too many tracks by one artist) so here it is instead:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/79493909

0:00:00 Pulp - My Legendary Girlfriend (BBC Soundcheck)
0:04:23 Pulp - Styloroc (Nites of Suburbia)
0:07:28 Pulp - Acrylic Afternoons
0:11:07 Pulp - His 'n' Hers
0:17:20 Pulp - Street Lites
0:23:07 Pulp - Party Hard
0:27:03 Pulp - After You
0:32:12 The Chocolate Layers - That Boy's Evil
0:37:34 M.I.A. - Galang (Cavemen Remix)
0:41:26 Dark Globe - Break My World (Fat Truckers & Steve Mackey Extended Mix)
0:45:37 Kelis - Bossy (Cavemen Remix)
0:48:57 Cornershop - Topknot (Caveman Remix ft. M.I.A.)
0:52:06 Death In Vegas - Dirge (Cossack Apocalypse Mix)
0:55:46 Black Box Recorder - The Facts of Life (Chocolate Layers Remix)
1:01:58 Looper - Up A Tree Again (Chocolate Layers' St. John's Ambulance Remix)
1:05:11 The Nu Forest - I Picked a Flower
1:08:40 Marianne Faithful - Sliding Through Life on Charm (ft. Jarvis Cocker)

Wonder why there is a screenshot of live Pulp performance in the middle of Hitchcock/Truffaut.

Saw them at Finsbury Park last night - despite the absences, they're sounding incredible. I've missed them.

They played A New One at the second Sheffield show, it's pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxYeeFKvwJo

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/feb/11/it-was-a-dark-time-pulps-keyboardist-candida-doyle-on-being-diagnosed-with-arthritis-at-the-age-of-17

It's a curious article.

We got North American tour dates!

Tickets for the shows will go on sale this week.

Fans can sign up for Pulp’s pre-sale by joining the band’s mailing via https://WeLovePulp.info before midnight PDT on Monday, 18 March. All those who do, will be sent a link and password to use when tickets go on sale on a first come, first served basis at 10am (local time to each venue) on Tuesday, 19 March.

Tickets will then go on general sale on Friday, 22 March at 10am – again all times are local to the venue. The tour dates are:

Sunday, September 8 Chicago Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom

Tuesday, September 10 Toronto HISTORY

Friday, September 13 Brooklyn, NY Kings Theatre

Monday, September 16 San Francisco Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Wednesday, September 18 Los Angeles Hollywood Palladium

Wow, I might have to go to that Hollywood show.

Got tickets for Toronto! Thank you for alerting me, Ned!

tickets for Toronto were sold out in like a minute, got a ticket in my basket then as it was loading it was gone

Ticketmaster can eat my unwiped shitstained asshole

Well there'll be other chances later in the week at least!

Kings Theatre in Brooklyn (the NY stop on the tour) dropped Ticketmaster. Things moved slowly on their system, but was able to get good tickets, and fees lower than Ticketmaster scum would have charged.

That’s really nice. Paid $30 in fees on each ticket. Hope you’re lucky with the general sale Murgatroid

The seating options you selected aren't available due to the ticket quantity or filter you applied. Please try adjusting the number of tickets selected or use the seat map to search for available seats.

I went on right at 10:00 with the correct presale code but couldn't even get in.

Oof, sucks to hear. In contrast SF went crazy smoothly! Got a floor/GA spot, all good.

So I got in after typings that out but like Murgatroid was timed out. Now they say no tickets left.

Kings Theatre in Brooklyn (the NY stop on the tour) dropped Ticketmaster.

Their seat selection system stresses me out, especially on a phone. But I got mine.

damn, i missed the memo about the mailing list so no artist pre-sale for me.

gotta listen to a bunch of pulp on spotify to day and hope to get that pre-sale code.

https://thescenestar.typepad.com/ss/2024/03/pulp-schedule-a-show-at-the-hollywood-palladium.html

There will be an artist presale taking place on Tuesday, March 19, at 10 a.m. Code: BRAVO.

You can also get your tickets early via a Live Nation presale on Wednesday, March 20, at 8 a.m. Code: KEY.

Spotify will also have a presale on Wednesday, March 20, at 10 a.m.

Got a pair for Toronto, but only after trying nonstop for 15 minutes. Like Murgatroid I had some in my basket, went to pay, and they were suddenly gone. Was about to give up and refreshed another 10 times or so and got in, this time it worked. No rhyme or reason. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Aw darn my ex works for live nation and I was excited to come share the code! Alas!

I'd love the Spotify presale code

I don’t have a Spotify ex :/

Extra shows announced for Toronto, Brooklyn and LA, presales today at 11 am local time.

got tix for kings on 9/14

got a ticket for 9/11 yeahhhhhhh

One more show announced! Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Sat Sept 21, on sale Friday 10 am