Pulp Freaks CD

2002 reissue of 1986 album subtitled Ten Stories About Power, Claustrophobia, Suffocation & Holding Hands. Simply awesome, ranging from Scott Walker balladeering to post-punk, avant-garde aggressiveness. Slipcase.

Pulp: Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, drums); Russell Senior (vocals, violin, guitar); Magnus Doyle (guitar, drums, percussion); Candida Doyle (piano, organ, background vocals); Peter Mansell (electric bass).
Recorded at Input Studios, Sheffield, England in June, 1986.
Personnel: Russell Senior (vocals, guitar, violin); Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, drums); Peter Mansell (guitar, bass guitar); Magnus Doyle (guitar, drums, percussion); Candida Doyle (piano, organ, background vocals).
Recording information: Input Studios, Sheffield, England (06/1986).
Unknown Contributor Roles: Magnus Doyle; Peter Mansell; Jarvis Cocker; Russell Senior; Candida Doyle.
Freaks is so different than It that it nearly sounds like a different band. Granted, that is largely due to the fact that Pulp was a different band, apart from lead vocalist Jarvis Cocker. After the unsuccessful showing of It, the band broke up, leaving Cocker to assemble a new lineup. The most significant new member was Russell Senior, who brought a fascination with art, noise, and neo-gothic overtones to the band. But that change in sound isn't the only reason why Freaks is the darkest record Pulp ever made, or ever will make. Cocker's lyrics are neurotically gloomy and paranoid, obsessed with failures and outcasts. While this would become a signature theme for Pulp's songs, Cocker's outlook on Freaks is oppressively bleak -- he finds no future for the mis-shapes and misfits in his songs. Not only are the songs hopeless, so is the production. The very sound of Freaks is muddy and impenetrable, making it difficult to find the occasional rewarding moment on the album, such as "Master of the Universe," "They Suffocate at Night," or Senior's "Anorexic Beauty." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The second Pulp album, 1986's FREAKS sees several changes from the band's debut of three years prior. The overall mood is much more sinister and aggressive (the album's subtitle is "Ten Songs about Power, Claustrophobia, Suffocation, and Holding Hands."), alternately recalling such early Smiths tracks as "Suffer Little Children" and some of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "The Carny."
FREAKS also finds main lyricist Jarvis Cocker handing over the vocal reins to guitarist Russell Senior on two particularly creepy songs. The first, "Fairground," opens the album with a swirling tale of a freak show, while the second, "Anorexic Beauty," is an ode to a distressingly thin woman ("Brittle hands and thin cigarettes, so hard to tell apart"). Elsewhere, "Being Followed Home" presents a story of stalking set against a carnival-esque musical backing. The music builds in intensity, playing over and over as the narrator's fear upon hearing the footsteps of a stranger increases. FREAKS is an altogether disquieting album that moved Pulp into the realms of the Goth movement.

Q (9/02, p.128) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Deliciously distrubing stuff..."