I do try with This Is Hardcore periodically, but how I feel about it never really changes. There are plenty of things to admire about it - the ambition (in places), the honesty (in places), some good songs, some exciting musical moments. But too often, for me there's just not enough of a strike rate on any of those things overall. And like Weej, it's Pulp record that's furthest away from my personal tastes, which isn't its fault.

I also don't think it quite delivers what it promises on the 'weird difficult arty' angle. Bar a couple of tracks, it's a pretty straight pop/rock album - probably as straight at Pulp get, really.