After the flop of their first album, Pulp released a single in the same vein, then found refuge with Fire Records, where they would remain for several years.

More importantly, Jarvis met Russell Senior (guitarist, violinist, and occasional singer) and Candida Doyle (keyboards), who would become part of Pulp’s classic line-up.

The Pulp of that period moved away from the romantic, largely acoustic ballads of It and headed toward a kind of sometimes gloomy post-punk, which would culminate in 1987 with the album Freaks and its famous subtitle: Ten Stories About Power, Claustrophobia, Suffocation and Holding Hands… Quite a program.

But before Freaks, two EPs were released: in 1985, Little Girl (With Blue Eyes), accompanied by three tracks, and Dogs Are Everywhere in 1986, accompanied by four more. While the title songs retain a certain melodic prettiness, the other tracks take more tortuous paths, both in the vocals and in the arrangements. All this can bring to mind Joy Division, The Fall, or even early Nick Cave, with a sometimes hallucinatory delivery. In short, not easy music for demanding listeners.

All of this can now be found on the compilation Masters of the Universe.

One begins to glimpse Jarvis’s potential, both in his singing (the shifts between low voice and higher register) and in his lyrics (for example: “little girl with blue eyes there’s a hole in your heart and one between your legs. you’ve never had to wonder which one he’s going to fill, in spite of what he said,” immediately followed by the sound of a crying baby…), but we are still far from the English pop star of the 1990s he would later become.

Here, Aborigine (from the EP Dogs Are Everywhere), very representative of what I’ve tried to describe above…

Après le flop du premier album, Pulp sort un single dans la même veine, puis trouve refuge auprès de Fire Records, chez qui ils resteront plusieurs années.

Plus important encore, Jarvis rencontre Russell Senior (guitariste, violoniste et parfois chanteur) et Candida Doyle (claviers), qui feront partie du line-up classique de Pulp.

Le Pulp de l’époque abandonne les ballades romantiques, plutôt acoustiques, de It pour s’orienter vers une sorte de post-punk parfois lugubre, qui culminera en 1987 avec l’album Freaks et son fameux sous-titre : Ten Stories About Power, Claustrophobia, Suffocation and Holding Hands… Tout un programme.

Mais avant Freaks sortent deux EP : en 1985, Little Girl (With Blue Eyes), accompagné de trois morceaux, et Dogs Are Everywhere en 1986, accompagné de quatre autres titres. Si les chansons-titres conservent une certaine forme de joliesse mélodique, les autres prennent des chemins plus tortueux, tant dans le chant que dans les arrangements. Tout cela peut rappeler Joy Division, The Fall ou encore le Nick Cave des débuts, dans une diction parfois hallucinée. Bref, de la musique pas facile pour gens difficiles.

Toutes ces choses sont aujourd’hui trouvables sur la compilation Masters of the Universe.

On commence à percevoir le potentiel de Jarvis, à la fois dans le chant (les passages voix grave / voix plus aiguë) et dans les textes (par exemple : “little girl with blue eyes there’s a hole in your heart and one between your legs. you’ve never had to wonder which one he’s going to fill, in spite of what he said”, juste après quoi retentit un bruit de bébé qui pleure…), mais on est encore loin de la future pop star anglaise des années 90 qu’il deviendra.

Ici, Aborigine (EP Dogs Are Everywhere), bien représentatif de ce que j’ai tenté de décrire ci-dessus…