Pulp - Spike Island (New Single) & More (New Album 6th June)

They said no Glastonbury on 6 Music today but I hope thats a lie and they're a secret set.
 
This first release is instantly loveable, both classic Pulp and new at the same time.
 
I was trying to figure out what it reminds me of and I think it is a bit Talking Heads.
 
I EXIST to do THIS... SHOUTING AND POINTING :disco:



I have played this so much this weekend. When a comeback is triumphant like this it is such a joyful thing.
 
We were watching a young Pulp at Galstonbury last night. Iconic.
 
8 vinyl formats! Eight of the bastards! Someone wants a #1 album.
 
Everything about this has been such an unexpected treat. I'm going to conveniently ignore my having been less than enthused by the most recent albums from other 90s-defining British bands (hi Radiohead, Blur, Suede...*) and prematurely declare this THE comeback of 2025. My body is so very ready for More. :disco:

* Worth it just for 'Burn the Witch' and 'The Narcissist' tho
 
I mean it's lovely to have them back and everything but I'm not completely convinced
 
Was a bit meh on the first listen until the Jarvis monologue mid way through
 


Very enjoyable. Especially liking Background Noise and Grown Ups. On early listening it tails off a bit towards the end though.

I read one review that said if this had been released instead of This Is Hardcore it could have changed their commercial fortunes. I don't think that take is correct at all. This isn't an album of pop bangers and the two they released are the obvious singles.
 
I wasn't feeling this at all on my initial play. :( I think part of this is me just needing to set my expectations considerably lower for the definitive bands of my youth. Except Pulp weren't even part of my youth (was a tad too late for them) and have never been anywhere near my faves, lol. I guess I hold a disproportionate amount of goodwill for that whole 'Cool Britannia' era which was like, the last point where I was innocent to the flaws within both myself and my country.

Anyway, it's grown on me after a couple more listens: it's solid, very much what I'd expect Pulp to sound like in 2025, but not all of it is hitting the mark unfortunately. 'Slow Jam' is lyrically 100% old spice but the production is confounding to me, 'My Sex' is like the direct inverse of that, Jarvis's vocal choices detract from 'Farmers Market' and 'Partial Eclipse' imo, and 'The Hymn of the North' - which seems intended as the jewel in the crown - fails to land with someone who's this painfully southern. :( I still really enjoy the two singles, find a lot of pathos in 'Background Noise', and consider 'A Sunset' to be a lovely closer, so I hope it does well for them regardless. Most critics seem to be receiving it far better than I am, and it's comforting to have them around in any capacity. I'll probably stick to playing This Is Hardcore when I need my Pulp fix tho. :disco:
 
For some reason, I couldn't quite bring myself to buy this on Friday and I'm not sure why. £13 felt like a lot for a CD but I paid that for Little Simz so it can't be just price. Maybe I was still feeling a bit grumpy about missing the Glasgow show because the standing tickets went in a flash and I didn;t fancy paying over £100 for a seat where they would be specks in the distance.
 
I haven't been into anything Pulp have done since 1996, but this is a brilliant album!
 
10 vinyl variants did the job then. I was really quite put off by that, tbh. Yes, that's the game these days but Little Simz is at #3 with one CD and three vinyl colours, one of which was a Blood Records job.
 
jyxz said:
Why are there now 9 members?
Click to expand...
That's the live line-up but I think they play on the LP too. It's a bit like R.E.M. in the early 00s - there were 6 people on stage and on the album but only 3 of them were actually R.E.M.
 
I read they are carry overs from Jarv Is. There are a core four and the rest.

More seems to have been big on the downloads:

7,898 CDs, 14,375 vinyl albums, 255 cassettes, 5,326 digital downloads and 2,094 sales equivalent streams.

Addison Rae did 14.8k and Simz 14.1k. Simz was ahead of Addison in the midweeks, I assume she wasn't as strong on streams.
 
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