Many music blogs/websites, big and small, have posted their
end-of-the-year lists (best song/album/concert/video etc).
British music monthly magazine UNCUT picked comeback LP MORE by English pop vets PULP as their Best Album Of 2025.
“It should be no surprise that they’ve taken their own sweet time in delivering their
masterpiece. Over almost half a century they’ve been an object lesson in a band slowly discovering their strengths, honing their craft, biding their time. They’ve matured, not
like a fine wine, but maybe like a magnificently ripe Wensleydale.”
In many ways, 2025 has been PULP’s year. A new – No 1 – album with MORE (their
first in 24 years), a world tour, a handsome reissue for Different Class due next month
and now on the cover of UNCUT that looks back with the imperishable pop vets led by
the imperishable Jarvis Cocker. And you can dig into their 40 greatest songs as chosen
by the band.
Also in this new issue. Wednesday, Alastair McKay, Jon Dale’s celebration of visionary frontman Tim Smith and the band he led until his death, Cardiacs,Robert Plant, Jeff
Tweedy, Neko Case and plenty more.
You can purchase a copy and let it be sent to your home address. Info HERE.
Sheffield‘s pop heroes (1978–2002, 2011–2013, 2022–present), led by
charismatic frontman Jarvis Cocker released their 8th album More
early this month.
Last weekend the band was one of the headliners at Glastonbury Festival
in the UK. The LP’s toptier hit single Spike Island was, as expected, part of the
set.
“I was born to perform
It’s a calling
I exist to do this
Shouting and pointing”
Sheffield‘s guitar-pop heroes PULP released, between 1983 and 2002, seven
good-to-superb albums, with the breakthrough one Different Class, turning
30 next October, as their magnum opus. It spawned their two biggest hits with Common People and Disco 2000.
Afterward the band went on a long hiatus, used by
charismatic vocalist/songwriter Jarvis Cocker to start
some solo projects.
They reunited for 2 years (2011-2013), to play some huge
big money concerts, went away again and are doing the
reunion game again since 2022.
And today they released their first album in 24 years with MORE.
Cocker:“When we started touring again in 2023, we practiced a new song called “Hymn of the North” during soundchecks and eventually played it at the end of our second night at Sheffield Arena. This seemed to open the floodgates: we came up with the rest of the songs on this album during the first half of 2024. A couple are revivals of ideas from last century. The music for one song was written by Richard Hawley. The music for another was written by Jason Buckle. The Eno family sing backing vocals on a song. There are string arrangements written by Richard Jones and played by the Elysian Collective.
We hope you enjoy the music. It was written and performed by four human beings from the
North of England, aided and abetted by five other human beings from various locations in
the British Isles. No A.I. was involved during the process.
This album is dedicated to Steve Mackey (note: the band’s
longtime bassist who passed away 2 years ago, only aged 56).
This is the best that we can do. Thanks for listening.”
NME: “Drenched in synths and strings and aided by producer James Ford’s knack for making the music feel alive and omnipresent, ‘More’ is everything you’d want a Pulp album to be, made richer from some lived experience. Just as Blur did with ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ and Suede have managed on their immaculate run of post-reunion albums, Pulp have retained their original spirit and flair into a statement of middle age without feeling any less vital.
As Cocker pines on the cinematic closer ‘A Sunset’, all things end, so just make the most of the time you have. It’s strangely beautiful, now they’re all fully grown.”
Press photo
TUTV: More is Pulp‘s big brother/sister of their triumphant 1995 Britpop LP Different Class. It sounds more balanced, displaying first and foremost Jarvis
Cocker‘s
5-star songwriting skills.
Except for singles Spike Island and Got To Have Love you’ll find less euphoric tunes
(like classic crackers Common People and Disco 2000) here, than on DC, but more
impassioned daily-life-inspired musings/reveries (Grow Ups / My Sex / Background
Noise and the magnific closer A Sunset).
Yes, Jarvis Cocker is 30 years older (61 now), but it doesn’t affect
his passion for writing/performing powerful heart-and-soul music.
Sheffield‘s guitar-pop heroes PULP released, between 1983 and 2002, seven
good-to-superb albums, with the breakthrough one Different Class, turning
30 next October, as their magnum opus. It spawned their two biggest hits with Common People and Disco 2000.
Along with that unexpected announcement came lead single Spike Island. A vintage, mid-tempo, pop thrill with a grandiose
chorus.
They performed it recently on The Jonathan Ross Show.
Daily noise that streams faster than a stream of caffeine
12 April 2025
New album artwork
Sheffield‘s guitar-pop heroes PULP released between 1983 and 2002, seven
good-to-superb albums, with the breakthrough one Different Class, turning
30 next October, as their magnum opus. It spawned their two biggest hits with Common People and Disco 2000.
Afterward the band went on a long hiatus, used by
charismatic vocalist/songwriter Jarvis Cocker to start
some solo projects.
They reunited for 2 years (2011-2013), to play some huge
big money concerts, went away again and are doing the
reunion game again since 2022.
And now the surprising news. Pulp have canned their first LP
in 24 years. It’s named MORE and will be shared with the world
on June 6th.
Along with the unexpected announcement comes lead single SPIKE ISLAND. A vintage, mid-tempo, pop thrill with a grandiose
chorus.
The Line Of Best Fit wrote: “Faced with soul-infused rock and cascades of electronic
and orchestral facets, Paul Weller’s latest creation is a shimmering sign of the times…
Compared to previous albums A Kind Revolution and True Meanings, On Sunset provides a more experimental feel, sitting at the intersection between various genres and pervading the depths of different ideas and moods, though never really committing to one or the other… On Sunset could be viewed as an album reinstating Weller as the keeper of mod musical tradition, but it’s also an album that sees him taking a rare glance into the rear-view mirror as he speeds into the ’20s.” Score: 8/10.
Keyphrase:“The Modfather is a soul man at heart.”
Keywords: A 21st Century Marvin Gaye, Motown echoes, Cafe Bleu revisited,
angry adult man, stylish council jams, Beat surrender tunes, In the city blues
