Sound

Pulp unveil James Murphy collaboration

Tom Jenkins | Monday 31 December, 2012 13:00

The great thing about the relatively recent spate of Britpop reformations is the realisation that many of these bands remain potent live – Blur and Pulp I can attest to personally, Suede too by all accounts. The threat of ‘new material’ is, as always, greeted with a chorus of hoorays and groans in equal measure and what little has surfaced has been predictably lacklustre – Blur’s rather spiritless Fool’s Day for example.

Pulp – ever the clever clogs and unashamedly danceable at their core – may have pulled off a masterstroke however, with this cleverly nurtured collaboration with James Murphy. This re-working of an old demo is classic Pulp with a hint of Blondie-esque disco. All other bands with ‘unfinished business’ take note: if you can’t train your podgy middle-aged fingers to make a record as gob-smackingly fresh and excellent as this then you really shouldn’t bother. Really.

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