Pulp
Masters of the Universe
[Fire/Velvel]
Rating: 6.3
Sounding like twisted, lo-fi, carnival chamber punk is not something people would
expect from Pulp. And it's nothing short of shocking that these songs were recorded during
the 1980s. They're so defiantly and timelessly weird that they could have come from almost any
scene except for a British, Reagan- era indie one. It's never very good, but consistantly interesting-- music that you
can admire, but just not want to listen to very much.
Everything from Venitian
chamber music to goth to post- punk to celtic ditties to melodic pop to gypsy
picking to spoken work to Italian soundtracks is mashed together in one bizarre
symphony of noise that leaves you feeling both interested and somewhat disoriented.
Collecting the band's early singles and EPs, Masters of the Universe's quality
ranges from the brilliant perverse pop of "Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)" to the
aloof, avant- garde ranting of "The Will To Power."
Pulp have always been smart- assed, and at times here they're too smart for their own
good, sacrificing a good song for a clever spit- in- the- face idea. But for its
time, this stuff is quite briliant. Spare, cheeky, dark, punk (in spirit), lush,
comic, weird, goofy-- it's the sound of a band trying to find themselves. After
hearing these early recordings their eventual path to stardom is even more surreal
and shocking. Leave your preconceived notions of Pulp at the door.
-Brent DiCrescenzo