Picture of Pulp

Britpop has been retired for some 15 summers now. It showered itself in glory for two bright years but the fame became too powerful and Britpop eventually swallowed itself whole, omitting the painful stench of excessive flatulence as it went.

However, sat slippered and bloated in its easy armchair, it can look back with pride on some of the cheeky scamps it spawned; mouthy chancers who could write glorious pop songs with verve and wit. And at the heart of that family is the bastard child called Pulp. The gangly, gawky interloper who finally found a home and friends in the mid 90s. But for Pulp, the story had begun long, long ago.

Three is not the magic number for Pulp. The band’s fourth album, His ‘n Hers, finally propelled them from the wings where they’d waited for 16 years. Most bands would have given up long before. But then most bands don’t have a Jarvis Cocker at their heart. And Jarvis Cocker’s strange and beguiling heart beats throughout the band’s first three albums.

Perhaps in light of Pulp’s recent comeback, Fire Records has decided to reissue the band’s early back catalogue: It (1983), Freaks (1987) and Separations (1992). Some of the tracks previously appeared on Countdown: 1992-1983, which Cocker compared to a “garish old family photo album” on its release and urged fans not to waste their money.

Like the awkward teenager, whose skin is too taunt for misplaced bones, Pulp needed time to grow into themselves. So it’s fair to say that, on their own, neither of these reissues is a pop classic. But then it can be fun flicking through old photo albums.

It is a collection of folky, whimsical portraits, all summer haze in the daisy parks. Cocker’s love of Scott Walker shines through on tracks like My Lighthouse and Wishful Thinking. And there are vocal mirrors reflecting the inflections of Morrissy. The acoustic arrangements are sparse and the lyrical honesty is a world-apart from the word-played wit that became Cocker’s calling card.

Jump forward four years to 1987 and Cocker has collected a new set of musicians, including Russell Senior, who would become an integral part of the band. Senior expanded Pulp’s sonic range, giving Cocker the scope to travel through darker landscapes. On Freaks his voice has changed, from the earnest wonderings on It, to a brooding, half-spoken, half-sung delivery, telling tales on the seedier underbelly of suburbia. The album is a midnight fairground ride, ringing with carnival chords borrowed from The Doors and an art-school ethic straight from the Velvet Underground.

By the time Separations was released in 1992, three years after it was recorded, Pulp already had pop gems including Babies and Lipgloss in their set. The album can’t match the band’s evolving songwriting skills and it never quite reaches the claustrophobic heights of Freaks. However, the first half showcases Cocker’s growing confidence and lyrical mischief: Don’t You Want Me Anymore contains the fantastic line “I’ve never seen you look as ugly as you did that night”. The second side of the album is an experiment with acid house stylings. It never quite works but did spawn the brooding frustrations of My Legendary Girlfriend.

Pulp fans will lap up the reissues. However, the albums are also well worth exploring on their own terms, especially Freaks. They contain all of the pieces that Pulp would eventually meld together; humour, pop-eared radars, delicious hooks and a kitchen sink disposition. Some bands were born and died within the confines of Britpop. Pulp were much too smart to implode. Their roots stretch back to 1978 and the strange teenage visions of Jarvis Cocker. Exploring those visions across a changing landscape is time and money well spent. All three albums have been remastered and repackaged and come complete with bonus tracks and liner notes from Everett True.

The new single follows hot on the heels of one of my personal favourite singles of last year, the anthemic Isles which was released in October.

The band are also giving away an incredible alternative version of the single which they have called Joannacapella which is exactly what the title says, an acapella version of the song.

You can listen and download Joannacapella here:

Little Comets - Joannacapella by Mud Hut Digital

Definitely a band to watch out for in 2011, here is the excellent video to accompany the new single:

Little Comets – Joanna

The single release precedes the brand new album from Little Comets enigmatically entitled ‘In Search Of Elusive Little Comets‘ which will be available on January 31st 2011.

Pictures by The Len Price 3

After seeing The Len Price 3 live last month I got a copy of their latest album, Pictures.

Live, The Len Price 3 are full of garage punk sweat and beans, jumping round and off the stage, frantic stomping to and fro, with more beats per minutes than The Jam ever had for breakfast.  The album, on the other hand, is more subdued, slower and altogether errs more towards 1960s pop of The Who, Small Faces and The Kinks.  Not a bad thing but for me live The Len Price 3 sound is more garage than Mod Pop, more punk amphetamine than purple hearts.

Ex-member of The Prisoners, Graham Day and Jim Riley produced Pictures and I’m assuming that choice was made to accentuate the ‘Medway Sound’ of this album.  I wonder if a Steve Albino produced album would bring out the garage punk energy of their live performances.

With Pictures, The Len Price 3 deliver 13 tracks in just over 30 minutes.  Each song is tight, headshaking pop with happy smile-driven melodies and sixties-style harmonies.  The title track is reminiscent of The Who finding their way and the Englishness of The Kinks at their most successful best. Wicked Cool record label chief, Stevie Van Zandt believes Pictures ”the band’s best album yet”

The Len Price 3 – Pictures Tracklist:

1.    Pictures
2.    Keep Your Eyes On Me
3.    I Don’t Believe You
4.    The Girl Who Became A Machine
5.    After You’re Gone
6.    Mr. Grey
7.    Nothing Like You
8.    If You Live Round Here
9.    You Tell Lies
10.    Man Who Used To Be
11.    Jack In The Greens
12.    Under The Thumb
13.    The Great Omani

The Len Price 3 are Glenn Ian Page, Steven Brian Huggins and Neil Scott Fromow.  Pictures is The Len Price 3’s third album and is available through Wicked Cool Records.

Steve Cradock is also offering a FREE MP3 of ‘Beware of The Falling Rocks’ from the album.

As a founding member of Ocean Colour Scene Steve Cradock has penned some of the definitive hits of the Brit Pop era from the 1990’s such as The Riverboat Song, The Day We Caught The Train and Hundred Mile High City.

Ocean Colour Scene songs are also familiar to many as the theme tune to Chris Evans’ TFI Friday and the signature tune in Guy Ritche’s classic film ‘Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels’.

Steve Cradock debut album includes 10 laments about love, life, loss and the union of marriage.

The Kundalini Target features guest vocals from Paul Weller on two tracks and plays a 12 string guitar on another.

Here Steve Cradock performs his debut single Running Away at The Prince of Wales pub in London’s Camden Town.  The performance includes Primal Scream’s Mani on bass and The Enemy in the audience.

For more information visit the Steve Cradock Myspace page.

It all turned nasty however backstage at Top Of The Pops, when Liam called round to confront the Kaiser Chiefs. Baines told Radio One; “Liam and me are backstage and he says, ‘Right, so the reason I said that stuff about you was because I saw that programme of you doing an impression of me’. And as he was saying this he was dunking his biscuit in his tea – and it was then he started swearing – but he left it in too long and it ruined the biscuit.”

“So it was my fault and I ruined his biscuit, then he started being horrible about our band.”

Rock & Roll eh!

Oasis will waste no time in getting back on the road, with two nights at Liverpool’s Echo Arena kicking off the tour on October 7th and 8th.

The full list of UK tour dates is:

Liverpool Echo Arena             October 7th/8th

Sheffield Arena                       October 10th/11th

Birmingham NIA                     October 13th/14th

London Wembley Arena        October 16th/17th

Bournemouth BIC                   October 20th/21st

Cardiff International             October 23rd/24th

Belfast Odyssey Arena          October 29th/30th

Aberdeen Exhibition Centre November 1st/2nd

Glasgow SECC                         November 4th/5th

The first single from Dig Out Your Soul will be The Shock Of The Lightning, which will include the first ever official remix of an Oasis track. It will be released on September 29th.

To promote their sixth studio album, Diamond Hoo Ha, which was released today (10th June), Supergrass are back with some great songs and a prestigious support to the mighty Foo Fighters throughout July on their tour of the United States.

Tracks from the new Supergrass album can be heard on the Supergrass MySpace site. The songs show a more mature side to the youthful energy and witty musical stylings of their Britpop origins. But that was over 10 years ago!

It was in 1994 that Supergrass released their debut 7” single, the wonderful Caught By The Fuzz.

After 14 years together, Supergrass (Gaz Coombes-Vocals & Guitar, Mick Quinn-Bass & Vocals, Danny Goffey-Drums & Vocals, Rob Coombes-Keyboard) are still making great records.

Gaz Coombes explains what they were trying to achieve with the new album,

“We wanted a record where you got all of Supergrass, the joy, the intensity, the darkness, the melodies. All of those have always been important to us and still are.”

Supergrass began playing the new album live while supporting both The Arctic Monkeys and Coldplay in the UK last year; and now they are about to embark on a US tour supporting.

Foo Fighters supported by Supergrass, unless stated:
9 July – Seattle,WA Key Arena @ Seattle Center
10 July – Portland, OR Rose Garden Arena
12 July – Los Angeles, CA Avalon (Supergass only)
14 July – Morrison,CO Red Rocks Amphitheater
15 July – Morrison CO Red Rocks Amphitheater
17 July – Oklahoma,City Ford Center
19 July – Kansas City,MO Kemper Arena
20 July – St.Louis,MO Scottrade Center
22 July – Grand Rapids,MI Van Andel Arena
23 July – Indianapolis, IN Conseco Fieldhouse
25 July – Cleveland,OH Quicken Loans Arena
26 July – Pittsburgh,PA Peterson Events Center @ Univ of Pittsburgh
29 July – E. Rutherford,NJ Izod Center
30 July – New York,NY Webster Hall (Supergrass only)

UK Events Tickets

You can find tickets for all UK gigs and events like T In The Park Tickets at Viagogo.co.uk

Viagogo is also the place to safely buy and sell tickets for all major UK events, this summer. You will find Queen Tickets alongside tickets for major sports events. So why not visit Viagogo and book your Wimbledon Tickets too.

Listen or download the album before it hits the shops. Frontman Gaz says the album gives you all of Supergrass,”the joy, the intensity, the darkness, the melodies. All of those have always been important to us and still are.”

The Laurel Collective are definitely what this summer needs. After shrinking the band from nineteen members to the current six, the musicians from Wales, England, Nigeria and Italy have made a masterpiece.

Harking back to the days of Britpop, the album is set to become this year’s soundtrack to the summer.

The opening track, International Love Affair, is one to get you dancing. Kicking off with  fiery drum beats and vintage guitars, the vibrant song is definitely a perfect opening to the album.

The band seems to combine modern influences such as the Mystery Jets with ska tones from bands such as The Specials.  Even Outkast have been referenced by some!

Gun Mouth manages to turn comic lyrics into a fabulous song.  Starting with a tribal beat and a distorted bass line, the song then turns into an upbeat indie summer tune with a contrasting ska chorus.

Vuitton Blues has an odd synth start before it kicks into indie pop with a clapped rhythm clapped – an indie favourite.

For a debut album, this is very promising. With a new take on the term indie, this bands going to go down well with the kids of today.

Feel Good Hits of a Nuclear Winter by The Laurel Collective is out now on Domino Records

Listen to The Laurel Collective

His latest single wil be a double A side, with Have You Made Your Mind Upon one side and Echoes Round The Sun on the other, and is released on May 26th.

Echoes Round The Sun is a collaboration with Noel Gallagher and is from the forthcoming Weller album 22 Dreams, which is out on June 2nd.

Here is the video for Paul Weller – Echoes Round The Sun. Its pretty good too!