The British band Pulp's album This Is Hardcore (1998) is the entranceway to things about to rot culturally, personally, and sexually. It is like a journal where one can date the moment things got bad, and the album’s appeal is facing the darkness straight on. Pulp was one of the key figures of the non-movement Brit Pop, a marketing technique from the music business world in the UK during the 1990s. It’s a catchphrase that fans know what it means, but there are vast differences between bands such as Oasis, Suede, Blur, and Pulp. However, what they have in common is that they are of the same age, and their fans are mostly in their early twenties, so there is a generational pull to put these artists in the same category. But I think one can’t contain artistry in a box, and Jarvis Cocker and company were more like journalists commenting on the frail relationship between the classes, economy, and sexuality.
I discovered Pulp while waiting for the green light to cross Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo. There are mega-video screens on the side of buildings, and they rarely show artists from the West, mostly J-pop artists and groups. But as I looked up, I discovered Common People and thought I was living in the moment of pop music bliss. I went directly to HMV’s big store, minutes from the Shibuya Crossing, and found the album in one of the listening headphone posts. I stood there and heard the entire album, Different Class. Its mixture of British Sink drama/humor and contemporary music struck me. It reminded me of Roxy Music’s Siren as I stood there and lost myself in the music and images that came to my head.
When I returned to my home in Los Angeles, I immediately bought Different Class (1995) and their previous album, His ‘n’ Hers (1994). there were three other albums before the Island Records discography, but I didn’t like them much compared to their recent work. But both His ‘n’ Hers and Different Class were perfect examples of pop being its best. The interesting thing about Brit Pop is that the major artists of that era were focused on their Britishness and mainly the London and other U.K. landscapes, including the differences between culture in London, Manchester, and elsewhere, including Pulp’s moving portrait of their hometown, Sheffield.
Pulp expresses the every day and turns it into a technicolor vision. Rarely do bands tackle the issues of aging and middle-aged sexuality, but for Jarvis and company, this is the perfect landscape for them to do their magic. Help the Aged, Party Hard, and the title song are magnificent portraits of time spent in self-doubt hell. The seedy side of the Hugh Hefner (which is already pretty…) dreaded fears of declining sexuality.
One of the critical members of Pulp, Russell Senior, left the band right before the recording of This Is Hardcore, which gave Mark Webber a more significant responsibility as the primary guitarist. Still, I think he put some avant-garde touches to that album, such as the prolonged version of The Day After The Revolution, which has as its last note an extended electronic sound that went on for a long time. I think it was put on only in the British CD version of this album. I wished it was on all of their versions because since that song is the ending or the last song on the album, it is a very moving work with an extended ending. The short version doesn’t kill the buzz, but the long version is excellence as practiced.
Jane Savidge’s book, This Is Hardcore, is both an insider’s look at the making of Pulp’s album because she was part of the publicist company Savage & Best, which handled Pulp’s publicity at the time of This Is Hardcore, as well as an objective look of the album. She had to deal with the fallout and fame that Jarvis went through after getting on the stage to wiggle his bottom at Michael Jackson during his performance at the Brits award show. Drunk, Jarvis was deeply disturbed by Jackson’s Jesus act, and he had to comment the only way he could at the time, by mocking the prominent member of the Jackson Five by pulling down the sails of such an egotistical performance. Somehow, that act by Jarvis was seen as a physical attack on some of the children who were on stage with Michael, and Cocker had to be interviewed by the Police. It was pretty much a standard type of scandal, but for the English Press, this was fresh meat to digest and spit out to the British public. After so many years trying to make it as a pop star, Jarvis finally reached that world with mixed results. It’s kind of challenging to be on the top.
This Is Hardcore, both the book and album/song express that duality of fame, especially after lusting for it for a long time, as Jarvis did. Showbiz is a minefield full of clichés, and overall, Jarvis had managed to tiptoe through that piece of property without getting permanently harmed. Still, the psychological aspect of such a life makes This Is Hardcore such a fascinating and excellent album. Savidge goes through the various levels of pain that are in that album, and she does so in a well-written manner. The oversized wall to climb over for her is the cover for this album. It’s a troubling image of a woman who can either look like a realistic dummy or, even worse, a dead body. I think one has to remember that Pulp is criticizing the surface and the inner life of such desperation, in which beauty is consumed but left with a disturbing blankness. Also, the album is very much in the character of a swinger-in-hell, which can be off-putting, but it’s pretty magnificent as an artwork.
In my opinion, the beloved Jarvis is genuinely supported by his band. I want to credit those who are very much part of this adventure: Mark Webber, Candida Doyle, Nick Banks (who also wrote a memoir), and the late and excellent Steve Mackey. Perhaps Jarvis is the moon, but the others are part of the Universe, and they surround, support, and contribute to Pulp's vision and melodies.
Also, there is this book to check out:
Information on Hardcore: The Cinematic World of Pulp is here.
It's interesting to note when I posted an announcement of my post above, Instagram asked me to take it down, due to the album cover.