By Stan Cierlitsky
I am generally not a fan of live albums, but the new Pulp Live! record Is definitely an exception to the rule. Last year I was excited to have tickets to see the Pulp reunion tour. Sadly, I ended up not being able to go, but this album is a nice consolation. Live! was recorded in 2025 at London's O2 Arena and begins with an intro that features the incredible Kelly Macdonald from Trainspotting (1996), the film with the incredible soundtrack featuring "Mile End" from this band.
Being a longtime fan of Pulp, I have to say listening to Live! Is a joy. The production is incredible, the music is nearly perfect, and frontman Jarvis Cocker just steals the show. My friend Bob went to that show last year and said, "Jarvis is a superb showman. Great moves as always, and always the witty banter between songs. The songs from the new album fit seamlessly with their classic setlist." With that being said, Live! kicks off with one of those new songs, "Spike Island", their recent comeback single. It's a great way to set up the pretty incredible setlist that follows.
There are so many highlights here spanning a career that's almost 50 years long. I'm obviously not gonna talk about all 18 songs, but I'm sure you all can guess the best tracks here; "Common People" is otherworldly. I am now thinking that live is the only way to listen to this song. I love how Live! does a nice job of keeping the crowd noise in on these singalongs. It's also perfect on a personal slower favorite "Something Changed" from 1995's Different Class. Other highlights are "Disco 2000", and oldies like "Babies" and "Do You Remember The First Time?" singles which indicated the band's shift away from their earliest material. I even think they did a great job on the cinematic "This Is Hardcore" version here.
I guess my one negative comment is I wish they would have included some of my favorites from the later years, like "The Trees" and "Bob Lind", but I guess when you have a band with such a long distinguished career everyone's gonna have their favorites.
Live! ends with "A Sunset", another new song. I love how it also has an unlisted goodbye from Kelly Macdonald from Trainspotting which makes me think how great it would have been to have "Mile End" from that 1996 soundtrack album done live here. I should also mention that a concert film, Pulp: What Do You Do For An Encore? will premiere worldwide on Mubi on September 25. I will definitely be watching.
Live! by Pulp is out now via Rough Trade.
[Photo: Lauren Krohn]