JARVIS - JARVIS COCKER
One of the messages written on former Pulp frontman Cocker’s first solo CD reads: “Do not adjust your tone control — it’s meant to sound like that.” And, indeed, the 14 songs on the U.K.-only release are a long way from Pulp’s high-gloss Britpop days, with lo-fi production and an endearingly ramshackle approach to performance very much the order of the day. Yet Cocker’s witty lyrics and pithy songwriting shine through as he tackles everything from Britain’s obesity epidemic (”Fat Children”) to Live 8 (the expletive-strewn hidden track “Running the World”) with bleak black humor and borderline contempt. The sinister air and downbeat arrangements may ultimately stifle any commercial aspirations and prolong Cocker’s self-imposed exile in France, but artistically this is an understated triumph, whatever your tone control might say. How about a U.S. release, too? Billboard (Rough Trade Records)
