[4/5] After detours writing for ingénues past (Nancy Sinatra) and present (Charlotte Gainsbourg) as well as the electro-Goth of Relaxed Muscle, the hour has finally struck for Jarvis Cocker, solo artist. And Jarvis is a ripe thriller, the work of a facile talent with a newfound fecund baritone that goes places where Pulp could not tread. While ex-Pulp collaborator Richard Hawley dresses the melodies in memorable swaths of '60s pop guitar, it's Cocker the tart storyteller who ultimately tantalizes: The cool detachment of "Tonite," the dime-store counseling of "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" and the acidic spit-take of the unlisted closer "Running The World." Constructed by a greasy crooner with obsidian black wit and oversized glasses (the better to see the trash around him), Jarvis makes the descent into the miasma of mankind a joy. (ROUGH TRADE) Erick Haight
 Official Website: http://www.roughtradeamerica.com
|
