Pulp / This is Hardcore by Wendy Korwin Island Records Just about three years ago, English tabloids and radio dragged Europe and a large part of the world into the Blur vs. Oasis war. At the same time, many little-known and well-deserving English bands pushed their way through and nearly upstaged the whole competition. Pulp was one of them, when "Common People" brought out the disco in everyone and even made a slight dent in American radio. Three years later, Pulp is back with This is Hardcore. Their teeny, devoted American audience of critics and daring civilians are smiling and hoping that the rest of the country will give in and buy their latest ambitious export (it even has a naked girl on the cover!). This is Hardcore doesn't bounce very much. The album is slower and stiffer -- much like Pulp itself. Frontman Jarvis Cocker is clearly preoccupied with his age, and this becomes the force behind most of the album. Everything from the insert itself states, "It's OK to grow up -- just as long as you don't grow old. Face it ... You are young." There is even a sad little song titled "Help the Aged," a quiet plea from Pulp to please not be placed in a home or forgotten forever. Not very likely. Pulp's music is aging beautifully. The album doesn't bounce, but bouncing to Pulp has always been an awkward, peg-leggy process anyhow. This is Hardcore is a collection of self-contained, stiff, hardbeat, and hardcore Pulp songs that once again deal with the nothingness of middle class life, among other things. Pulp is clearly non-American; their humor may be lost on this side of the lake, but their musical ability will not. It's exactly their experience and their agedness that makes this album better than any of their previous ones. Cocker has perfected being a geek and resolved the issue of not having a great voice by replacing it with wails like yawns, staccato, high-pitched "ahhs," and singing that often sounds more like decorative conversation. The melodies are not astonishing, but they never have been. Instead, they're strong and loud, and backed up by some great drum and guitar work. Parts of the CD lie quiet and lazily empty while other sections build up a cheesy frenzy comparable maybe only to the Fraggle Rock soundtrack. Still, this isn't an album you're likely to sit around dissecting or praising at first listen unless you're already a hardcore Pulp fan. It may stay in your CD player for a week or so if you're just too lazy to take it out, but eventually, you'll start walking around humming tunes you can't pinpoint and having the urge to say fun things like, "Leave your makeup on, and I'll leave on the light." The tracks will start to separate themselves out instead of just being part of a continuous sequence, and if you wait for this moment, it'll be worth it. You'll want your own polyester suit and pair of Blu Blockers, and then you'll know you've started to love Pulp. If getting used to this album is starting to tire you, try skipping around. The first song, "The Fear," is a great place to start because it's a pointed intro to the entire CD. "Party Hard" is a song with a more universal appeal than some of the slower songs, like "Dishes" or "Seductive Barry," and could have easily fit onto Different Class, Pulp's last full length album. If you're still desperate, start in the middle and work around; "TV Movie," "A Little Soul," and "I'm a Man" are the catchiest songs on This is Hardcore. If nothing else, save this CD for the lyrics. The inlay warns, "N.B. Please do not read the lyrics whilst listening to the recordings," but don't let that stop you from scanning them at another time. Lines like, "I'll show you how to do it right. I used to practice everyday on my wife" are simple and sad and hysterical at the same time. Eventually, This is Hardcore will reel you in; just give it time. Pulp improves with age.

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