Pulp: Song By Song

Hailing from the Steel City, Sheffield, in the north of England, Pulp are Britain's longest-serving overnight sensation, having existed on the peripheries of the indie music scene for more than 15 years before gaining the success that they deserved in the mid-1990s. On a run of classic albums throughout the mid-1990s, they explored themes of social alienation, 90s rave culture, unrequited love and coming of age in the looming new millennium. As an example of their greatness, the wry Northern humour of the anthem 'Common People' remains a timeless commentary on nineties class division. Pulp's story is also the story of Jarvis Cocker. The mono-named icon adopted NHS-spec wearing, corduroy-clad geek chic, and paired it with the wit and witticism of the great Northern kitchen-sink realists. Today, he is nothing short of a national treasure. The band first split in 2003, and now, 23 years later, they are back with the Northern Soul-flavoured No. #1 album, 2025's More. Pulp: Song by Song explores every track on the three albums they released as indie stalwarts in the 1980s, and the quadrilogy of albums that cemented their success: His 'n' Hers, Different Class, This is Hardcore and We Love Life. AUTHOR: Originally hailing from the UK, but now resident in Wellington, New Zealand, Tom Boniface-Webb is a freelance writer on film and music, a film tutor at Victoria University of Wellington, and a sometime filmmaker. He is the co-author of I Was Britpopped: The A-Z and the 'Modern Music Masters' series. He has written on film for Sight and Sound magazine and is currently completing his PhD comparing how the public film funding bodies in Australia and New Zealand foster emerging filmmakers. 32 colour illustrations