PULP – THIS IS HARDCORE

Description

This is the sound of someone losing the plot/you’re gonna like it, but not a lot. So says Jarvis Cocker on The Fear, the opening track on This Is Hardcore, the ambitious follow-up to Pulp’s breakthrough Different Class, thereby providing his own review for the album. Cocker doesn’t quite lose the plot on This Is Hardcore, but this ominous, claustrophobic track makes it clear that this is a different band, one that no longer has anthems like Common People in mind. The shift in direction shouldn’t come as a surprise – Pulp were always an arty band – but even the catchiest numbers are shrouded in darkness.