Of the many purported 'Brit Pop' acts I feel Pulp emerged with the most credit. With only one indubitable classic album, A Different Class, that may seem a bold claim. Though that album was light years ahead of anything else circa 1995- be it Oasis' derivative beery singalongs, or the likes of Shed Seven and The Bluetones, Charlatans et al. Bands who have a handful of decent moments and songs, scattered across their oeuvre but nothing to merit anything more than a nostalgic moments cursory interest from toady's vantage. Im talking about songs like The Wannadies' 'You and Me Song', or The Bluetones' 'Slight Return'. Great tunes, yes, songs that soundtracked the era and are fond recollections, granted too, but ultimately fleeting highlights from largely pedestrian bands.
The same cannot be said of Blur, as they were to canny to become one trick ponies such as Oasis and their simple Beatles aping. They evolved from purveyors of dance floor ready populist singalongs -"Boys and Girls" to laddish bar room rock ;"Charmless Man", to something altogether more interesting and lasting like "Beetlebum", or "Out of Time", where Albarn cemented his already proven songwriting prowess.
They would never be great on a level like Radiohead, but were undoubtedly interesting and edgier than their peers. And infinitely more cerebral than the likes of Oasis.
This is largely to do with their talented frontman Damon Albarn.He is understandably, indie royalty, and has been an endlessly creative force for good in acts as diverse as Gorrilaz to The Good The Bad and The Queen. And also Coxton, their brilliantly scuzzing axeman who gave slacker anthem Coffee and TV its great fuzzy riff ( among countless others). He endowed the band with some great non obtrusive guitar work, and has some creditable solo work too. Last year's Glastonbury set seemed to crown an impressive career, leaving an awestruck audience muttering how they didn't remember just how many great songs they had.
However it is Pulp, another band to have a career defining moment at Glastonbury, who I feel
should be the most lauded act of the era. Jarvis Cocker their wiry , engaging frontman was simply the best songwriter of the time. In songs such as Common People and Disco 2000 he combines warmth, humour and very a English sense of nostalgia with great floor filling tunes. Anything from the Different Class album is evidence of Pulp's superiority. The ironic detachment of Cocker's narratives sets him apart; indeed, the songs are themselves apart; outsider anthems, such as Misshapes and Common People. Articulating what it means to be young educated and middle class, but still common enough to write a song like "common" people.
It's this otherness that people can relate to and which makes the songs so worthy and lasting. Here is further proof of Pulp's peerlessness, at Glastonbury in 1995, when they premiered songs from the as yet unreleased Different Class album. These songs have not aged, only sounding better through the distance of time.Much as Cocker, still a wry and engaging presence now, remains the epitome of geek chic, possessing even more sparkling anecdotes and vignettes to regale the crowd with between songs. Behold, people, a fantastic band on the cusp of greatness.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIaehhYLVZA&feature=player_detailpage
Bit of a shame the link i originally intended to post has been taken down from the BBC iplayer website.This showed the whole set in a pre-glasto appetite whetting bonanza. So apologies for brevity and appalling quality of the substitute clip, but it still gives a thrilling reminder of a time when this song was new, and illustrates Jarvis' effortless stage owning charisma (both during the song and otherwise).
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