In just a few days, the reunited Britpop greats Pulp will release More, their first album in 24 years. We'll have a review of that album up soon, but let me just spoil it right here by saying that it's an amazing record, one that can absolutely hang with any of the group's classics. We've posted the band's singles "Spike Island" and "Got To Have Love," both of which are excellent, as well as their performance of "Spike Island" on The Jonathan Ross Show. It's nice to see that a few different UK television institution are giving Pulp their shine, since they also gave a truly mesmerizing three-song performance on the BBC's Later... With Jools Holland.
It's just an absolute delight to be able to behold Pulp's live show in televised form. The current version of Pulp has Jarvis Cocker alongside three of his classic-era bandmates, as well as a large collection of extra musicians, including a full string section. The Jools Holland was recorded at London's Alexandra Palace Theatre. The sound mixing is impeccable, so that you can hear Cocker's stage-whisper perfectly. On top of that, Cocker is just an all-time frontman, and his abilities haven't diminished in the slightest even now that he's into his sixties. There's a part on "Spike Island" where he sings, "I was born to perform/ It's calling/ I exist to do this: Shouting and pointing." Those are some very true words.
On Jools Holland, Pulp performed two of the tracks from More: "Spike Island" and "Farmers Market," the mind-blown love song that they debuted at a Los Angeles show last year. They also reached back to 1995's Different Class and did a lovely version of their hit "Something Changed," with Jarvis Cocker on guitar. Watch all three of those performances below.
In addition to that Jools Holland performance, Pulp recently played a pair of gigs at London's BBC Radio Theatre, and the BBC shared footage of the band performing "Disco 2000," another great Different Class song, as well as 1994's "Acrylic Afternoons" for the first time since 2012.
More is out 6/6 on Rough Trade.
