Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker got demoralized with Britpop in the 1990s after hoping for a revolution. They knew it was time to make a full comeback when new songs came fast on tour
Pulp are ready to bring a bit of Razzmattaz back after finally recovering from Britpop fatigue. The Sheffield troupe are riding high again with More, their first album in 24 years, but inbetween there was never a messy Oasis style break-up.
Frontman Jarvis Cocker merely lost interest and didn’t fancy becoming a solo superstar either.
Musing on Pulp’s inactivity Jarvis spilled: “Oh, there was nothing particularly spectacular. We just ended up at a standstill. Like a car running out of gas, ‘pfff pff’.”
Unlike many of their contemporaries, Pulp rather enjoyed the whole Britpop scene at first but the scene’s promise turned to disappontment for Jarvis as the 90s progressed.
“Personally, I was hoping a revolution would change the country. But it didn’t happen,” he recalled. “What later became known as Britpop was interesting at first because it put outsiders in the spotlight. And I thought it would make culture in general more interesting. Then Labour came to power, except it wasn’t really a Labour government, just a kind of watered-down Conservative government.
“The whole thing demoralised me a bit. The idea of a career never appealed to me.”
Pulp’s music has lived on in their absence so were they worried about living up to former glories with the new album?
“People will make the comparison anyway,” he mused. “We recorded trying to think as little as possible about that kind of thing. The album took shape when we started rehearsing one of the new songs on tour. So we said to ourselves, ‘let’s see how far we can take it’. But there was no concept behind it. Everything happened very quickly. That doesn’t necessarily mean the album is great, but for me, it’s a good sign. Because at the end of Pulp, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.”
The new album features a Who’s Who of current and former members of Pulp including Richard Hawley who replaced Russell Senior around the time of their album, This Is Hardcore.
Having real friends in the band is way more important than talent for Jarvis: “A lot of people came through Pulp, but they were often friends. Richard is probably one of the most talented people to have played in the band, but there were also people who could barely play.
“We had a keyboard player who could barely stay awake, he was constantly falling asleep! I’ve always thought that if you’re going to travel in the back of a van, you’d better do it with people you get on with, otherwise it could turn into a nightmare. With us, it’s always been a question of affability rather than ability.”
Pulp are rumoured for a secret set at Glastonbury Festival later in June.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
