Pulp – It

Pulp's 1983 debut reissued

Perseverance is a rare quality in the current music scene and few would lay claim to the dedicated gestation period that Pulp endured. Starting during peak punk time 1978, the band eventually met with chart success in 1994 and Fox Records are now reissuing the band’s early albums, with the usual paraphernalia of bonus material, so it seems appropriate that we wind the clock back for a fresh listen to the debut album.

Other than Jarvis Cocker, the rest of the band took up residency for just this first outing; a seven-track, limited edition, vinyl-only release that failed to make it on to many notable turntables! It is easy now, given the subsequent belated achievements, to allocate the album with posthumous revelry for it doesn’t match up to the material the band produced during their Britpop realm. It sounds dated for sure, with an air of pre-indie wistfulness that led into an era which changed the face of contemporary music forever. But this was 1983 remember, when The Smiths were still finding their feet and Damon Gough was a badly drawing schoolboy! The promise of Cocker’s song writing shines through and his vocals, albeit less theatrical, are distinctive and charming. Musically closer to the folk scene than the dance floor, but an album well worthy of the revisit afforded It.

7/10

Words by TC

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