Different Class by Pulp

While Blur and Oasis were scrapping it out in the Britpop wars of the 90s, this plucky band from Sheffield snuck up on the inside and took the trophy. Jarvis Cocker’s songs of working class life and the desperation of poverty and unemployment, hit home in a way that other bands never quite managed. Maybe I’m biased, but as someone who lived through the Thatcherite 80s in Sheffield when whole communities were systematically thrown on the scrap heap this album rings true.

The lyrics reminded me of Ray Davies in places, and the music is similarly timeless, especially on the tracks with orchestral arrangements by Anne Dudley. Aside from the hits, the highlights for me were I Spy, which could have been a Bond theme (albeit for a very low rent, pervy James Bond) and Mis-shapes which could have been written about me as gawky young nerd with specs worrying about being beaten up by townies if I ventured out on a Friday night.

Woodchip-tastic!