A few weeks back I had a chance to watch Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Britpop, which I thought offered a pretty objective perspective on the entire Cool Britannia scene of the early 90s.  Was it a creation of the media?  My conclusion is (and has always been) not entirely; the antecedents of Blur vs Oasis clearly started years earlier with Suede vs The Auteurs, two bands who very seriously presented a smart, modern British alternative to the pablum that was the American “grunge” scene (specifically its watered down generic brand of teen angst).  What came in their wake was a succession of bands who embraced what it meant to be young, poor, and working class.  In the worst case scenario, we ended up with Menswear plastered all over the NME.  In the best case, we were blessed with Pulp, who’d been toiling in the margins of the British music scene for ages, just waiting for the times to catch up with them.

Jarvis Cocker and Pulp were true visionaries, whose two defining documents, Different Class and This Is Hardcore were and still are the bookends to the Britpop story.  Three years ago, when Cocker finally surfaced with his debut solo album (Jarvis), it was almost as if time had stood still.  The caustic wit and cunning pop sensibility that made him such a delectable and unexpected pop star nearly 10 years earlier was intact.  “Don”t Let Him Waste Your Time” was classic Cocker, while “Cunts Are Still Running The World” spared no one its venomous bite.

What then should we make of “Angela”, the first offerings from Cocker’s latest, Further Complications?  At first listen, it may be to say that it’s more of the same, but I won’t be so quick to judge, especially when the album is produced (or should we say recorded) by Mr. Steve Albini.  Cocker and Albini is certainly a pairing that I never would have imagined in a thousand years, but one that intrigues me and has me practically salivating thinking of the possibilities.

Even if it’s going to be Jarvis Mk.2, I’m getting and absolute kick out of watching him (literally) build a name for himself in anticipation of Further Complications’s release.  While you’re at jarviscocker.net you can sign up for his mailing list and get a free download of “Angela” (which, some of the more highly intuitive of you may have also noticed, is available right here).

MP3: Jarvis Cocker “Angela”
Myspace: Jarvis Cocker