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Albums

Best albums of 2025: #3 Pulp “More”

Looking back over the pages on this site, I’ve come to realize that Pulp hasn’t gotten near enough love on this blog*, especially given how much I’ve listened to them, sang along with them, and danced to their tunes over the years. Back in 2018, I did publish some words on my top five favourite tunes by the band and in that post, explained how my first time listening to the group in earnest was when I saw them opening for Blur at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre back in the fall of 1994. I expressed how clueless we all were when Jarvis Cocker and his five bandmates, Russell Senior, Candida Doyle, Nick Banks, Steve Mackey, and Mark Webber, strode on to the stage and proceeded to blow us all away. We all went out to buy their 4th album “His ’n’ hers” the next day and played the hell out of it. Shortly afterwards, “Common people” hit the airwaves and Britpop exploded and Pulp became legendary. I continued following them through the release of three more albums and right up to their dissolution in 2002.

Frontman Jarvis remained relatively active, released a couple of solo albums and an additional album with a new band called Jarv Is, but the other members of Pulp were relatively quiet, at least in terms of the music industry. The group reformed in 2011 and toured extensively for the next couple of years before calling it quits again in 2013. In 2022, they announced they would be re-forming again** but before they were able to play a single show, bassist Steve Mackey passed away in March 2023 after being hospitalized with an undisclosed illness. The first run of their latest reunion shows were wildly successful, once again taking them all over the world, including a larger spate in North America that included two sold out shows in Toronto, one of which I was hoping to attend with my friend Tim***. But sadly, I never made it.

Last December, Pulp announced they were signing on to Rough Trade records, which tipped off that we might finally get an 8th studio album, new material, hints of which had been heard at those aforementioned shows. When “More” was announced and went up for pre-sales on the internet earlier this year, I immediately put in for a copy on vinyl. I had no idea what I was going to get but I had a feeling it was going to be special. Thankfully for me, I was right. “More” isn’t just any old reunion album. It is the example by which any group that had their heyday thirty years ago and thinking of giving it another go should follow. This isn’t a retread of old ground or a resurrecting of old ghosts. This is a veteran band that had more to say and more to contribute.

“More” is Pulp giving us more of what they always did best, an older and wiser Pulp that still has an eye on the world like no other. It is eleven voyages and colourful tales, each one worth delving deeply into but as usual, I’ve put together three picks for you as a starting point.

“Grown ups”: “And I am not aging. No, I am just ripening. And life’s too short to drink bad wine and that’s frightening.” With a staccato guitar riff that is reminiscent of a cross between “Roxanne” and “(I just) Died in your arms”, “Grown ups” is a raucous bounce and jive. It’s a six minute riff on being a grown up, looked at the through the eyes of youth and later by contemporaries. In Cocker’s hands, the subject matter becomes laughable and almost cool in its awkward existence. He delivers the diatribe much like he did in songs thirty years ago but back then, it was sordid tales of extramarital affairs and slumming because it was cool. “Why am I telling you this story? I don’t remember.” Just crank up the tune and dance along.

“Got to have love”: “Without love, you’re just making a fool of yourself. Without love, you’re just jerking off inside someone else.” I mean, yeah, he ain’t lying. Though I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone else put it quite that way. And that’s what makes Jarvis such a great lyricist, as well as a great showman – he’s pretty fearless and damned honest. But if you weren’t listening closely you could easily miss gems like these, especially here. “You got to have love” sounds like a gigantic party and ready-made dance floor filler. The sampled vocal refrain and gang strings just scream disco hit and celebration. A beat that doesn’t quit and cymbal crashes that explode with confetti. You wanted more Pulp, right? Well they certainly deliver here.

“Spike island”: “I was born to perform. It’s a calling. I exist to do this, shouting and pointing.” You think Jarvis is talking about himself? Sure is. The advanced first single off “More” was the first piece of new music from Pulp in more than a decade and it was a welcome sweet sound for sore ears. Purportedly, the song takes for its subject Cocker’s feelings towards Pulp’s getting back together and an optimism towards the future. Meanwhile, the song’s title and chorus were inspired by a legendary Stone Roses gig that took place just around the time that Pulp hitting their stride in the mid-90s. It’s got slide guitar, a bold bass, unbreakable beat, and plenty of swagger for good measure. “Spike island” pronounced in capital letters that Pulp was indeed back.

*Before this post, there’s been only a measly three out of the close to one thousand posts that I’ve published since this blog’s inception in spring 2017.

**With the entire “Different Class” era lineup, excepting of course Russell Senior.

***Lucky jerk somehow made it to both shows and by all accounts they were both phenomenal.

We’ll be back before you know it with album #2. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Snocaps “Snocaps”
9. Nation Of Language “Dance called memory”
8. Robert Ascroft “Echo still remains”
7. Doves “Constellations for the lonely”
6. Miki Berenyi Trio “Tripla”
5. Suede “Antidepressants”
4. Wet Leg “Moisturizer”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

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Albums

Best albums of 2025: #4 Wet Leg “Moisturizer”

Honestly, I didn’t plan it this way at all. If you read the post on my fifth favourite of 2025, Suede’s “Antidepressants”, you might recall that their previous album, “Autofiction”, hit the same mark on my Best albums of 2022 list. Well, in a weird twist of fate, Wet Leg’s amazing self-titled debut was my number four album three years ago and now, their sophomore record “Moisturizer” is number four as well!*

As I wrote back in 2022, the duo of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers formed Wet Leg in 2019 after working on separate projects over the years on the Isle of Wight. That debut album was a massive hit for them, buoyed by several viral singles, successful tours, and garnered them a number of awards, including some Grammys. Obviously, I was not immune to the album and the band’s allure, excitement, and energy. In 2024, Wet Leg added touring musicans Henry Holmes, Josh Mobaraki and Ellis Durand as official bandmates, and set about writing music for a sophomore album as a quintet.

When I first sat down to “Moisturizer”, I did so fully expecting not to like it. It’s a rare thing that a band can successfully follow up an album that sees so much so success without the band buckling under the weight of so much expectation. It becomes even rarer and nay, almost an impossibility, when that successful album is their debut. Music history is chock full of examples of bands that spent their careers toiling in the tall shadow cast by their immense and in some cases, legendary debuts. In my own estimation, its less about the expectations and the need for the band to recapture the same magic than it as about the band not letting those things dictate their future and their direction.

The reason why “Moisturizer” is number four in 2025 is precisely because it is not the same album that was that number in 2022. Indeed, Wet Leg surprised me again. Perhaps it helped that Teasdale and Chambers included their three new bandmates in the songwriting process, perhaps it was the experience gained by the touring and performing in front of massive crowds, or perhaps it could be that they are even more talented than they hinted at with their debut. I don’t know. And I guess it really doesn’t matter. “Moisturizer” incredibly finds more energy and variation than the debut and strikes out from the band’s nearly obvious influences to find their own ground in which to take root.

You’ve more than likely heard one or more tracks from the album but if not, here are three picks for you to check out.

“Catch these fists”: “Some guy comes up says I’m his type. I just threw up in my mouth, when he just tried to ask me out.” Wow. Tell us how you really feel, Rhian. The first, advanced single to be released off the album is a kiss off to the unwanted attention young ladies can attract while out partying with friends on the dance floor. It’s a very real, universal tale. You’ve seen it, I’ve seen it, and Rhian’s obviously lived it. It definitely has a dance floor feel. Angular guitars, a bouncy bass line, rapid fire drumming with lots of fills, and fists in the air, punchy vocals. It feels by times playful and by times snarky and angry. I chose to believe it’s all in good fun but I definitely wouldn’t want to find myself on the wrong side of her, catching those fists. Best to keep on dancing in my own space.

“Mangetout”: “Good God, she took a break, made a mistake when she met Trevor. Get lost forever.” And the snarkiness continues. Our protagonists shift their focus to kissing off “Trevor”, who we are assured does not exist, but is an amalgam of many “Trevors”. The lyrics read like an angry tirade but the music they set them to, makes it a whole lot more fun. Loose and slack guitars, rumbling bass, laid side by side against a hopping drum beat, and man, such a joyous melody, vocals that beg to be by times crooned and by times shouted along with. Yeah, Teasdale uses all the weapons in her vocal arsenal here, no two lines sung in the same way, back to back. “Get lost forever!”

“U and me at home”: “Sometimes, I get so sad and my blue eyes fade to grey. You tell me it’s not so bad. You always know just what to say.” And now for something completely different. As antagonistic as my first two picks were, this one feels like sunshine and rainbows. A real love song. Domestic bliss and creature comforts. A frenetic drum beat starts the proceeding, followed by a bass line that feels pulled from The Breeders toolkit, and the vocals are relaxed and lovely, oh so chilled out. Then, suddenly the crunchy guitars are thrown in the mix and we know it’s a real party. A great upbeat way to close out the album. So good.

*Before you go back to check out the rest of that list in 2022, I’ll put to rest that this is where the coincidences stop.

We’ll be back shortly with album #3. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Snocaps “Snocaps”
9. Nation Of Language “Dance called memory”
8. Robert Ascroft “Echo still remains”
7. Doves “Constellations for the lonely”
6. Miki Berenyi Trio “Tripla”
5. Suede “Antidepressants”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Categories
Albums

Best albums of 2025: #5 Suede “Antidepressants”

Here we are sliding into my top five favourite albums of the year and it’s a band that is no stranger at all to these pages. Indeed, they last appeared care of a post back in September on a song for my best tunes of 2013 list, a track called “It starts and ends with you” from the first of what is now a litany of five great reunion albums. I wrote then that despite being a fan of pretty much everything coming out of Britain in the 90s, I didn’t start out being a fan of Suede. Of course, that’s all ancient history and I’ve been following the Brett Anderson led five-piece through all their ups and downs: the early popularity, the loss of their original guitarist, the even greater fame with the Britpop explosion, the drugs and the trials and eventual dissolution of band, and through to their triumphant return and beyond.

The fifteen years since that successful reunion back in 2010 has seen the group release as many albums as they had during their initial run and though perhaps not as commercially successful, these last five have all been critically lauded. Instead of being rehashes of old glories or vanity projects to accompany reunion tours to play old hits, as have done many of their contemporaries, Suede have built on their sound and their legacy with this new music, retaining the energy and excitement they exuded in their early years.

“Antidepressants” is purportedly the second of what is planned to be a trilogy of albums that are thematically and aesthetically “black and white”. The first album of said series, “Autofiction“, was incidentally my fifth favourite album of 2022 and was what frontman Brett Anderson called the group’s “punk album”. Its followup was meant to be bigger and more dramatic, the opposite of “Autofiction”’s stripped back lightning energy, and instead, the direction became slightly more inevitable, angular and dark. Yes, this is their take on post-punk and goth. And man, does this outfit suit Suede like a slinky glove.

“Antidepressants” is eleven excellent and replayable tracks that sparkle when taken out of context but explode as part of the whole. You can’t go wrong having a peek at any of tracks as samples but I’ve nonetheless collected three picks for you below.

“Trance state“: “If I’m unsociable, it’s fine. I’ll blame it on the Mirtazapine. I hope I’m going somewhere nice.” The first of these picks explicitly names one of those antidepressants to which the album title refers. The drug is named as a barrier between people but really it’s just an excuse, a surrogate for a deeper set issue. This theme of connection and disconnection is constant throughout the album but here is prominently flaunted like a new tattoo or a rebellious piercing. The haziness of the guitars and synths are set against a punishing drum line and a muscular, Peter Hook like bass. And Anderson is doing his best to be an objective narrator but he gets caught up in the emotional void in spite of himself.

“Broken music for broken people”: “And under endless skies we fell in love and then we died but when the lights went out, we believed in something rather than nothing.” Members of Suede have referred to the album as a “wide-screen” record and nowhere are those words truer than here. “Broken music” is the closest thing to a classic Suede song as this album gets but it is bigger and more epic, every rimshot, every guitar lick, every hip shake dialled up to eleven. It is an anthem, a call to arms, celebrating the broken people, rather than looking down on them. And it’s not singling anyone out. We are all broken people in our own sense, with our own histories, but we are shined on in a positive light. We are all in this together.

“Disintegrate”: “My baby, feel the rage. Your relationship’s a lie, and the friction makes you scream, but you hold your love like a weapon in your hand.” Track one, the introduction, the tip of the hat, is where the goth influence feels most evident. From the sinister Sisters of Mercy guitars to the haunting Joy Division bass drums and guitars to the playful nod to The Cure’s iconic album for its title, you could be forgiven for double checking the artist name on your music player of choice before Brett Anderson’s unmistakable vocals kick in. “Disintegrate” is deniable. It is punishing. It is fists in the air. It is wearing sunglasses at midnight and dancing in the wee hours like there’s no work in the morning. Such a great tune.

We’ll be back in about a week’s time with album #4. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Snocaps “Snocaps”
9. Nation Of Language “Dance called memory”
8. Robert Ascroft “Echo still remains”
7. Doves “Constellations for the lonely”
6. Miki Berenyi Trio “Tripla”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.