Pulp - His 'n' Hers (CD 1994)

I bought this when it first came out. I was in Virgin and a song was playing in the background (Lipgloss). I bought the album without listening to anymore and have never regretted it.

Jarvis Cocker's voice is distinctive and edgy. The songs are contemporary with subjects such as anorexia and joyriding being tackled in a non-confrontational yet non-glorifying way.

Every song on this album makes me sing along to it and I bought my next Pulp album - 'A Different Class' - because I loved 'His 'n' Hers' so much. For those of you who don't have this album yet but have heard 'A Different Class', you can expect a less commercial pop flavour from 'His 'n' Hers' and this is what gives it the edge for me.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS CD EVERY TRACK IS EXCELLENT. I FIRST HAD THE ALBUM ON TAPE BACK IN 1994 WHEN IT WAS FIRST RELEASED BUT UNFORTUNATELY MISPLACED IT, SO I WAS REALLY DELIGHTED WHEN I SEEN IT BEING SOLD SO CHEAP ON E BAY I JUST COULDN'T RESIST.

For many, like me, Pulp only started to exist when Common People ripped into the charts and was only stopped on the number 2 spot by Robson, Jerome, and a million tasteless Britons.

"Who the hell are these guys?!" thought I, excited by this new band. "What more will they bring?" Misshapes, Disco 2000 followed. "All good! I have found a great new band!"

And then a friend brought me back to earth with a bump. Pulp started way back in 1983 if you can believe it. Said friend lent me His and Hers and I didn't care - more of the same please!

Ok, I'd heard "Do You Remember the First Time" before and loved it, but had never realised who had done it. But the rest of the album? Joyriders, Lipgloss (released as a single), Have You seen her Lately, Do You Remember the First Time of course and the surprisingly good David's Last Summer as a finale are all highlights of an excellent album which, to me, still hasn't lost it's vibrancy in 2008, 14 years after it's release.

I still haven't forayed into Pulp's even earlier work but, listening to His 'n' Hers whilst writing this, I think I may just have to investigate...

If you likeds Different Class, you'll love this. OK, I feel that the singles off Different Class are marginally better (except that Do You Remember can't be topped) but the remaing tracks are patchy - some great, some...

His 'n' Hers, on the other hand, more rounded and a better listen. All in all, a must for anyone who likes Pulp and a great intro to the band if you're new to them.

When I was a teenager I was devoted to Pulp and His'N'Hers was their last album before they went interstellar with "Common People". Jarvis Cocker's indie group, formerly Arabicus Pulp, was one of the outstanding bands of the 1990s, and was loved by people who were slightly more individual than those who followed Blur or Oasis. When I listen to a classic track like "Do You Remember The First Time" or "Babies" I understand why I was addicted to Jarvis for several years - because there was just nothing else like it at all. After they became famous, their music was still good but the albums from the early 1990s - including the "Intro" sampler - was pure pop with a racy edge rather than mass-market music designed to tick all the boxes without having a soul of its own.

The album lurches from the pop of Joyriders to the crooning ballad of "Someone Like The Moon" and the eerie mood of "David's Last Summer" rubs shoulders with the polished "Do You Remember The First Time" which was the first Pulp song I heard before Common People - on the later album Different Class - hooked me in May 1995 (I can still remember the first time I saw Pulp on Top of the Pops and I was hypnotised by them).

Pulp were versatile enough to make it to the big time but His'N'Hers prepared them for the limelight while still being a great indie album in its own right. Jarvis' performance of Babies on TOTP in 1994 - where he dared to flash a sign saying "I hate Wet Wet Wet" - showed his rebellious streak while his response to fame showed he was equally at home at the Brits as at the kitchen sink.

A must-listen for any Britpop afficionado and one of my favourite albums of the 1990s.