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Album Review
by SashaS
21-10-2001
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| Pulp |
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Pulp: 'We Love Life'
(Island Universal)
Pulp’s seventh album is more observations of life’s variety from an astutely lateral standpoint
There are not that many character-artists around anymore although there is a proliferation of raving egomaniacs and desperate celeb-wannabes. Jarvis Cocker, God-bless him, is a bloke of the old-stock, he is an individual, an eccentric on the fringe of a parade of images. Not only by what he does, how he behaves, fashion-style but by being the last man (alive?) to believe in the rock myth.
It was a crushing blow for the leading Pulp-man to discover that it is all a big con with too many different velvet-ropes in the VIP-ranking and it had nothing to do with the quality of music. That’s why ‘This Is Hardcore’ album (after the breakthrough success of ‘Different Class’) took him by surprise and he seemed to be stunned by that new ‘high-life’. ‘We Love Life’ is a return to things that matter with all its minutiae.
But, first thing first: what’s the most amazing, and top marks for it, is having the legendary-recluse Scott Walker produce this platter. Having had the immense pleasure of interviewing Mr Walker, I know what a huge achievement that is. And, as one of the band’s major influences, it fits in with Jarv’s claim that this album is about fundamental things, all the bull stripped to revel the basic element, like earth, air, trees, nature… And our (losing) place in it.
There is no better chronicler of urban Brit-life than Jarv and one of the best examples on the LP is ‘Wickerman’, with its spoken-word vocal and spaced-out guitar. Cocker, an adopted Londoner, retains that Northern dis-attachment to see through the pretentious ‘sophistication’ of people-who-party, as well as being far from Sheffield to see its literal decline. There are many pretenders but Cocker combines the Noel Coward-like natural gift for dramatic and street-level suss of Ian Dury to create his song-world that is as stinky as the one outside your window.
‘We Love Life’ is astute, pop-charming with big, ambitious sounding songs, playful, engaging… How much fun can you stand with your thinking cap on? Oh yeah, “Please do not read the words whilst listening to the recordings” the artwork requests.
The subtitle to ‘Bob Lind’ is ‘The Only Way Is Down’, the truth is more brutal – The only way is death – but, not to worry, we can all indulge in this beauty in meantime. And you’ll be helping the environment as 1 penny of every copy sold will go to Future Forests to plant trees to reabsorb “the carbon dioxide associated with the production of this CD.”
No atonement needed as nought has been wasted… Now, I’ve got a list of 150 artists who should be levied with pollution surcharge… (Censored under the Act of Indulgent Thoughts act – Ministry of Truth)
8/10
SashaS
21-10-2001
Pulp’s ‘We Love Life’ album is issued 22 Oct. 2001 on Island Universal
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