{"id":41636,"date":"2009-08-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/further-complications\/"},"modified":"2009-08-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-13T00:00:00","slug":"further-complications","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/further-complications\/","title":{"rendered":"Further Complications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jarvis Cocker has been many things in rock since he formed Pulp as a teenager. In the \u201880s, he played the role of struggling artist as Pulp flailed in obscurity for more than a decade. In the \u201890s, Pulp exploded in the UK<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>, thanks to Mercury Prize-nominated His \u2018N\u2019 Her<\/i> and Different Class<\/i>. Success led to the indulgence that was This Is Hardcore<\/i> and finally, the band\u2019s career capper We Love Life<\/i>. Throughout this stretch, Cocker\u2019s lyrics, a mix of sardonic humor and scathing class warfare obsession, made him one of the best singer-songwriters of the last two decades. <\/p>\n

Cocker\u2019s first solo album, Jarvis<\/i>, was a great throwback to \u201860s-era solo albums. It was nostalgic without feeling like a retro retread, thanks to memorable tunes, a decent variety of music styles, and some excellent songwriting feats by fusing his wicked dry wit with some heartfelt declarations. Some experiments never took (\u201cFat Children\u201d still sounds like a tacked-on rocker), but it had an undeniable flow that made listening to the album in one sitting easy. You didn\u2019t need Jarvis to tell you to listen to the album as a whole, but he didn\u2019t chance it, as he included instructions on listening to the album in the CD. <\/p>\n

No such instructions are given for Further Complications<\/i>, Cocker\u2019s latest solo album. Unfortunately, instructions would have helped. For this disc, Cocker recruited Steve Albini, the minimalist, fuzz-noise enthusiast who produced some of the best works from PJ Harvey, Nirvana, and the Pixies. Cocker\u2019s pick of Albini was interesting, as Cocker\u2019s lyrics are usually far less abstract than any of the bands Albini has worked with \u2013 and far more personal and immediate. <\/p>\n

The choice worked. Further Complications<\/i> has a primal sound that matches the eleven libido-driven tracks. The guitar riff on \u201cLeftovers\u201d is the type of riff that lodges inside your brain and makes it nearly impossible to forget hours after you\u2019ve listened to it. Even some of the more straightforward tracks like \u201cAngela\u201d have a solid foundation of garage rock rhythm that make them memorable, even though the subject matter (a woman who\u2019s allure renders a guy powerless) has been done to death. <\/p>\n

If someone were to have said Further Complications<\/i> was a disappointment, I would have blamed recruiting Albini for his being too incompatible for Cocker\u2019s style. But actually, the fatal flaw of this release comes from Cocker himself. While it may be unfair to judge singer-songwriters solely on their lyrics, you expect good lyrics when you listen to a Bob Dylan or a Wilco album. And when those lyrics aren\u2019t there, the rest of the album falls apart. Ditto for Cocker. <\/p>\n

The problem is a double dose of bad puns and lame sexual innuendo. Any fan of Pulp knows that Cocker can wallow in self-pity with the best of them, so in the song \u201cI Never Said I Was Deep,\u201d it\u2019s disappointing when he tries to play the ironic hipster card with a finishing line \u201cBut I am profoundly shallow.\u201d The same can be said for \u201cLeftovers\u201d with a line like \u201cHe says he loves you like a sister \/ Well, I guess that\u2019s relative.\u201d <\/p>\n

The second offense comes from some horrible sexual puns for most of the album. \u201cFuckingsong\u201d\u2019s title was probably inserted for shock value, but it pales in comparison to Cocker\u2019s last shocking song \u201cRunning The World,\u201d not because of the vulgarity, but because of the open and honest bitterness that the latter song so expertly conveyed. \u201cLet this penetrate your consciousness,\u201d Cocker sings in \u201cFuckingsong.\u201d I\u2019ve heard more subtle entendres in the Austin Powers movies. <\/p>\n

Fans of Jarvis Cocker know he has some sexual hangups and definitely has a perverted side. But up until now, he\u2019s been able to convey these feelings into something audiences can relate to. With Further Complications<\/i>, Jarvis seems intent only on pleasing himself. Jarvis Cocker has been many things. But sadly, this is the first time that he\u2019s been boring. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":30006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8017],"rating":[5619],"class_list":["post-41636","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jarvis-cocker","rating-rating-c"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41636"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}