Just given the whole album a first listen.

Not quite sure, what to make of it to be honest. We already knew it contains some of the best songs he's ever written (LeftOvers, DiscoSong, Never Said). As for the rest - well you certainly can't accuse him of playing it safe like maybe he did a bit on his first record.
His vocals on the louder songs are quite impressive, especially the shouty bits. But they also make him sound a lot older than on previous records. I wonder how much Albini influenced the heavier sound. It's gonna take a bit of getting used to, Jarvis setting loose amidst a hail of loud guitars, and saxophones...

Getting away with the lyrics of 'FuckingSong' at his age, well if it was anyone else you'd cringe but he's done it for the last 25 years so I suppose it works.
Conversely, I can't believe he's taken out the ''I could be your teddy-bear, a teddy-bear with an erection'' bit on LeftOvers. Even the original start of that part, "Broken-down, middle-aged divorcee.." was great (Does anyone who saw this song performed in November know which version he sung?). Thankfully the rest of that song more than lives up to it's live reputation.

Further Complications and Caucasian Blues sound great, after being promising on their live outings. Angela makes a lot more sense in the context of the album. Maybe Girls Like It Too would have stood out?

Of the completely new ones - Homewrecker and Hold Still need more listens but there's a driving urgency to both that keeps the album buzzing along after the two ballads before it. I'm sure I'll hear a tune in them with a few more plays...
Pilchards...I like the Supergrass 'Coffee In The Pot' comparison. That is a lot catchier though. Like Andy, I'm not convinced yet by this track.


You've got to admire him though. He's still got a hunger for making interesting music (or rather, he's regained his hunger after it deserting him for the past decade) and on first listen it's exciting, a bit puzzling at times, but no doubt will bear much repeated playing.

Eamonn wrote:

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Conversely, I can't believe he's taken out the ''I could be your teddy-bear, a teddy-bear with an erection'' bit on LeftOvers. Even the original start of that part, "Broken-down, middle-aged divorcee.." was great.

i believe he sings "i know it's just a song" in "fucking song" except in the end. when is he going to stop this...?

Disney Time is brilliant!

I'm having a love/hate relationship with Disney Time :D Anyway, his debut is a lot better than most people think. Quality songs, good production, great bsides...

This new album is weird. Half a rock n roll album, half a mellow album, and a disco song. Dont sound very cohesive to me, maybe i'll get used to it. Also, i'm having trouble liking it when i dont listen to it on headphones. The production is flat when i put it on my stereo (and no my stereo isnt broken !)

I miss Chris Thomas.

I enjoyed Never Said I Was Deep a lot, but I can relate to other comments about the live versions - I like his style of singing more on the live versions, there seems to be more passion and feeling there, almost pleading his case.

(Disney Time is the best song released since 2002 by the way!)

Does anyone think the tracklisting is a bit weird ? Ive twisted it and it flows better i think

Further Complications
Angela
Leftovers
Homewrecker
Hold Still
Fuckingsong
Pilchard
Caucasian Blues
I Never Said I Was Deep
You're In My Eyes (Discosong)

This sounds much better, i didnt really like "Leftovers" and "I Never Said I Was Deep" being back to back, as they are the same kinda song.

A few days and a dozen listens later... It all still sounds very good too me.

I always read reviews comparing Pulp's sound to David Bowie, but personally, I never made that connection before. I even took offense to the comparison. This solo album, however, does sound like an old Bowie record.

One of the things that strikes me as a nice change of pace is that Jarvis' vocals feel more organic than they have in a long time. He doesn't sound overly processed or modulated (except on Angela, but that seems to be the point of that song). More importantly, it sounds like he's in the same room as the rest of the band.

I've been saying for a long time that ever since This is Hardcore, it's sounded like the music and the lyrics were recording in isolation, and then the group tried to mash them together, sometimes painfully. Think for instance of these lines from "I Love Life":

You've got a problem / I lost my keys / when I stayed in your place / on the floor of your living room / well you made a scene / but it'll never get shown on TV"

Now, perhaps that lyrical refrain means a lot to Jarvis, but to me, it should have never made it into the final song. It's not so much that the lyric is obtuse (it is) but that it doesn't fit the overall flow of the song. It's as if the whole song had to come to a screeching halt so Jarvis could squeeze the line in, and I think it ruins the song. There are similar parts in Bad Cover Version, Glory Days, Sylvia... just to name a few.

This new record impresses me, in part, because of its efficiency. Lyrically, these may not be Jarv's wittiest songs. The only song on the album that strikes me as having great lyrics is "I Never Thought I was Deep". What makes these songs good are their energy and the fact that the vocals and the music work so well together. I have no idea what "Homewrecker!" is about, but I still think it's a kick-ass song. The power of Jarvis' delivery is, in this case, more important than the words he's delivering.

In his lecturers on lyrics, Jarvis pointed out that "Heroes" has fairly pedestrian lyrics, but that the passion with which Bowie sings his lyrics gives the song its power. I think the same may be true for this new solo album.

I don't think I will hold these songs too close to my heart, just because I do tend to gravitate toward lyrics first. Still, I can't say there's anything on this record that sounds -bad- (for a change) and I enjoy all the songs without qualification. They might eventually fade from my memory, and I may not listen to the whole record as often as I do some of Jarvis' other work. I certainly won't stew over this record for hours, since there's not that much here to decode. It's a very immediate record, and in some ways that disappointing, but since music has lost a lot of its intellectual value for me over the last few years, I think an "immediate" record is probably better than a "complicated" one. Ironic, given the title.

-- Edited by Fuss Free on Sunday 26th of April 2009 03:06:25 PM

Maybe he doesn't like the fact that he's regarded as "intellectual" and "deep" anymore?
I don't know but.. why waste a wonderful talent that you have...? There's no point in writing a song like "Angela"(like that song haven't been criticized before.. it's almost too easy now, don't you think?) if you can do so much better..

It has a very Stones/Bob Dylan sound & feel to me. Which is nice.
Encouragingly, 'Angela' only having a limited release could indicate that for the single propper he's going back to the 60s/70s style of non album singles in the same time window as the album, to match the style! (:
Maybe with an album track as a b-side like Floyd's See Emily Play/Scarecrow.
So in a couple of months we could see Girls Like It Too/Pilchard tearing up the charts for festival season.

Dare I say it now... Angela is beginning to grow on me. It is a throw away 3 min pop song I suppose. I still can't listen to it outside the context of the album though.

All I know is from the minute I wake up to the second I fall asleep the bloody thing is stuck on a loop in my head!

I'm wondering in the absence of Girls Like it too, what else on the album could have been a lead single. There's not much to choose from and I would guess Angela is the most accessable.

I listened to the live versions of these songs very little as I know it's often the case that you tend to like the first versions you heard the best, so I kept myself for the studio recordings.
I had kind of ruined We Love Life a bit by doing that and by the time the album came out I wasn't excited about the songs anymore - (and annoyed about the fact Minnie Timperley and I love Life were ruined!). So I haven't done it again since!

For those would like to see a re-hashed track listing - here's mine:

1 Further Complications;
2 Angela;
3 Pilchard;
4 Girls Like It Too;
5 Leftovers;
6 I Never Said I Was Deep;
7 Homewrecker;
8 Hold Still;
9 Fuckingsong;
10Caucasian Blues;
11Slush;
12Youre In My Eyes


Perfect!

Eamonn wrote:

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It will be interesting to hear the remaining four songs that were recorded but didn't make the album. We all know of 'Girls Like It Too's merits but I wonder if we'll be questioning ''Why the hell didn't this make the record?'' (á la every record Jarvis has made) to the others when they're released.

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Iv been thinking just that about "Apparently", when i heard it live i remember thinking that it sounded great...i might be wrong though.

After listening to the album about four dozen times I must admit I'm very disappointed.

For me the point of every Pulp/Jarvis-song is its tension between music and lyrics. On the one hand you've got stirring artistic pop music, on the other you've got Jarvis' stories about life and affliction with sex and suburbia. Songs like Lipgloss or I Will Kill Again are so much more than the sum of its parts because of the tension between form and content. (Not to mention positive creative tensions within a band like Pulp).

My problem with Further Complications is, that we have six "furious" songs with "furious" lyrics and "furious" topics. All these rock songs are quit flat and pointless. Caucasion Blues for example is not bad at all. I like it as a throwaway song. But why does Jarvis waste his genius on throwaways??

Leftovers, Hold Still and I Never Said I Was Deep are much wittier, but again: either they don't have complete stories to tell or I'm completely missing the points. (Btw I can't understand why Jarvis has dropped the "teddy bear with an erection" either.) The lyrics sound incomplete and therefore the songs are just running on the spot.

The only two songs working for me are Slush and In My Eyes. The latter seems to be the friendly brother of It's a Dirty World. Love it!

So, perhaps Further Complications is an album of transition or disorientation or whatever. I'm sure the live shows will be amazing but I'm deeply, deeply hoping that Jarvis will retrieve this special "tension" - on his own, with his new band or at best with Pulp.

-- Edited by MerkinMuffley on Thursday 30th of April 2009 01:57:40 PM