Pulp are really doing the thing! Last year, the reunited Britpop greats released More, their first album in 24 years. It fucking ruled. There’s been more music since, then, too. In November, Pulp shared their surprising cover of Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around.” Last month, they dropped the excellent psych-rock protest song “Begging For Change” on the HELP(2) compilation. Now, their 12″ single for “The Man Comes Around” is out, and it’s got two new songs as B-sides.
You should know better than to write off Pulp’s B-sides, since you have decades of evidence that a lot of great stuff never makes it onto their albums. “Marrying For Love,” one of Pulp’s new tracks, is a kind of deranged, percussive easy-listening thing, and Jarvis Cocker spends about half of it in spoken-word rant mode. It’s a love song, naturally. Here’s one great lyric: “Armageddon postponed, paradise regained, ten thousand saxophones take to the street. Can you imagine the racket? But I love it.” Here’s another one: “A new source of energy that doesn’t cost the earth: Erotic rebirth.”
“Cold Call On The Hot Line,” the other new Pulp song, plays around in the same organ-centric Muzak playground. This time around, Jarvis Cocker talks about being stuck on hold and longing for phone sex. Great lyric: “Please help me become a well-rounded personality/ Because you’re well-rounded, as far as I can see.” Check out both songs below.
The single version of “The Man Comes Around” is out now on Rough Trade.
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