Pulp(UK) - Freaks(1987)

Tracklist:
1. Fairground
2. I Want You
3. Being Followed Home
4. Master Of The Universe
5. Life Must Be So Wonderful
6. There's No Emotion
7. Anorexic Beauty
8. The Never-Ending Story
9. Don't You Know
10. They Suffocate At Night
Total playing time 44.13

It's just dawned on me that this record is 21 years old. Crikey.

Pulp were always darker that the other pop acts in the UK in the 90's. Their kitchen-sink drama tales of sordid lust and grim desperation behind the closed curtains of surburbia always seemed to sit awkwardly out of place with the blustery laddishness of Blur and Oasis, which is I guess what attracted me to them. Different Class was one of my first musical loves, Pulp at the Nynex with Denim and Edwyn Collins was one one of my first big gigs, and Freaks was one of my first real eye-opening moments. It was upon receiving a badly-taped copy of this from a chum, Alex, that I realised there was a musical universe out there bigger than I could ever imagine.

This is not an easy record to listen to. The pop sentiment is there on some of the tracks, I Want You in particular is a chorus sixth-form bands across the land would die for. But to get to that song first you must endure Fairground, an acid-trip nightmare Nick Cave would run screaming from. Master Of The Universe is another descent into madness, the likes of which Pulp wouldn't better until nine years later with I-Spy.

This one is for those who love early Cure, who think The Smiths were a little too twee, who want their pop to bite back. Enjoy.

Raise your eyes and graze your knees... (Mediafire)