Toronto – Anyone that knows me knows that I have obsessive tendencies towards the bands Suede and Pulp. Those two bands will always be 1a and 1b in my favorite bands list. So while you might think that I am being bias when saying the new Jarvis CD is fantastic, you are actually wrong, because the biggest fans are usually the harshest critics. “Further Complications” is Jarvis Cocker‘s second solo album, after the mild success of his 2006 offering. Sure he might be married with two kids and living in France, but Jarvis is still Jarvis (much like Manny is Manny) and once again his songs are peppered with razor sharp wit (“I met her in the museum of paleontology, And I make no bones about it”) , keen observations and still a bit of that outsider looking in mentality (“I will never get to touch you so I wrote this song instead”). It’s not until you start making sense of what he’s saying do you realize how much you miss witty lyricism’s in songs.
I never said I was deep, but I am profoundly shallow
Sound wise, this album follows a more straight forward rock and roll approach. A fair Pulp comparison would be some of the rockish tunes off This is Hardcore. It’s a bit glam, a bit frenetic and every bit sounding as good as any of his recent works. Songs like “Angela”, “Left Overs”, “I Never Said I was Deep” and “Fuckingsong” are all songs that I highly recommend.
Jarvis is supposedly playing Vancouver’s V-Fest in July. I pray he comes round to the East coast sometime this year (and reform Pulp for one of those cash grab tours)
