I remember the first time I read the novel IT by Stephen King, the moment hit me that the story wasn’t just a bloodthirsty clown on a rampage, but a coming-of-age story, it gave the book so much body once the penny had dropped. PULP are the Stephen King of music for me, their commentary on class, sex and the general discomfort of being in your own skin is continued in MORE, it’s just 24 years older. We typically think of coming-of-age as the gap between being a child and an adult, but PULP teach us that every stage of life is a kind of coming-of-age. From watching your friend’s sister have sex in a wardrobe, to being a rich girl’s bit of rough at uni, to now, long after the year 2000, isn’t strange now we’re all fully grown?
Spike island kicks it off with a culture reference to the Stone Roses infamous1990 gig that herded 30,000 people and was marred by a lack of facilities and general bad planning. The story goes that a DJ at the gig exclaimed ‘Spike Island, come alive!’, this stuck in the mind of Jason Buckle, who co-wrote the song. It gets the album off with a bang, full of energy and I think Cocker may have missed being on stage ‘I was born, to perform.’ Its soft electro with popping synths, it’s a song that’s bound to get people on the dance floor.
Voyeurism is a theme throughout PULP’s discography, and Tina is the latest, the dreamy picking of the guitar with the violin tremolos magnifies the dream sequences ‘welcome back to Dreamland.’ I also really appreciate the consistency of the types of women’s names used throughout their discography, Deborah Sylvia, Tina, much like the satisfying use of alliteration, ‘Tina // tantalising and teasing’.
The first few songs are jaunty, lively and full of throwbacks, I couldn’t help but smile when I heard Cocker breath ‘are you sure?’ in ‘Grown Ups’, if you know, you know. Cocker can be something of a mad scientist with his imagery, including a monologue of a dream about leaving Earth for a planet that looks more fun, only to lose your memory, look back down to find everyone looks like they’re having a better time on Earth after all, but having no rocket fuel to get back. It’s an outlandish way of saying the grass is always greener, like a Brit Pop Spike Milligan. The topic of aging is exposed for being just as painstaking as being a teenager ‘stress about wrinkles instead of acne.’ But it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, despite what society would like you to think ‘I’m not aging, no I am just ripening.’
Relationships change just as we do as we age, ‘Slow Jam’ is true to its name with its relaxed tempo and funky slap bass line, both this song and Background Noise touch on how relationships can start to feel like old sweatshirts, you’re used to wearing it all the time, its faded and doesn’t fit the way it used to, but you still wear it until its passed needing being washed and it probably just needs some TLC. It wouldn’t be a PULP album without being lude ‘let’s have a threesome babe, me, you and my imagination.’ Sometimes you just need to spice thing up and look at something form a new perspective. ‘Farmers Market’ shares the fragility but is more of the ‘ah ha!’ moment of meeting the one ‘the future broke through, and I knew I was right.’
‘My Sex’ is broody, dramatic, with yet more bass with Cocker’s whispering tones, it’s that cheeky, sleazy PULP we’re familiar with, it screams gender identity and self-exploration ‘show me yours and I’ll show you mine.’ despite being miles away from the Northern Soul and Motown inspirations of ‘Got To Have love’ they share the lude-ness that you expect from PULP ‘without love you’re just jerking off inside someone else’ that also had me questioning if Partial Eclipse’ was a song about giving someone a semi – ‘you’re giving me a partial eclipse’ – during a break up. I wouldn’t put it past them.
Our sendoff comes from the POV of a parent to a child, letting them go making sure they know they have a home to come back to, its heartwarming and encouraging ‘there’s a million different things instore for you!’ the reflectiveness is carried over into ‘A Sunset’, change is a part of nature and the only thing we can really do is embrace it.
The more I listen to the More, the more I enjoy it. Its quintessential Pulp, Cocker is a genius but because their music has grown with them and acts as an outlet for where they are in their lives, it doesn’t feel boring or samey, it’s just brilliant. It’s both dreary and playful, life imitating art. Overall, it’s a joy to listen to and I can see myself growing into it as the narrative of aging becomes more relevant to me, but even now, it’s a comfort as I draw closer to 30.