In 1995 Britain was full of nationalistic hubris at the peak of the Britpop era, the musical antithesis to shoegazing and Seattle grunge that dominated the turn of the decade. Nobody cared yet about Y2K, the ‘Millennium Bug’ that threatened to cause a technological meltdown, much less Brexit. Thatcher was out, Major was in. Blair’s New Labour tapped into the sentiment of Cool Britannia, turning D:REAM’s “Things Can Only Get Better” into a campaign promise that led to a landslide election victory in 1997, ending eighteen years of Tory governance.
Pulp’s Different Class was released on the cusp of political change. The distinctively British album brimmed with sardonic wit, the mundane and the seedy, littered with tongue-in-cheek observations on everything from class in “Common People” to the rave scene in “Sorted For E’s & Wizz.” Frontman Jarvis Cocker’s bookish aesthetics and skinny blazers provided a counter to intolerant lad culture, captured in the album’s opening track “Mis-Shapes.”
Pulp’s Different Class was released on the cusp of political change. The distinctively British album brimmed with sardonic wit, the mundane and the seedy, littered with tongue-in-cheek observations on everything from class in “Common People” to the rave scene in “Sorted For E’s & Wizz.” Frontman Jarvis Cocker’s bookish aesthetics and skinny blazers provided a counter to intolerant lad culture, captured in the album’s opening track “Mis-Shapes.”
As a fourteen-year-old, five years felt like a lifetime. When “Disco 2000” suggested let’s all meet up in the year 2000 I made plans with school friends for a future reunion. Those were the days when the notion of adulthood was shiny and intoxicating and the prevalence of the Union Jack on guitars, dresses and NME covers didn’t seem as ominous as they might now.
The year 2000 came and went as teenage dreamers conformed to society’s expectations, becoming busy adults leading busy lives. Over two decades on from the album’s release, Britain experienced another moment of misplaced jingoism and the pursuit of national interests dominates global politics. After a late night in Soho I was fading fast and it’s nearly dawn and “Bar Italia” span in my head. It seems apt that the album’s swan song should be the one that resonated most as an adult getting ready to make significant changes to my life, whilst living in a divided Britain.
In 1995 Pulp promised the future’s owned by you and me but I never started that revolution in my velvet blazer. When I play the album again today, I remember a young teenager hungry for the future, who made plans for reunions I never kept and thought won’t it be strange when we’re all fully grown?
ALBUM: Different Class
ARTIST: Pulp
YEAR: 1995
LABEL: Island
LENGTH: 52:50
The year 2000 came and went as teenage dreamers conformed to society’s expectations, becoming busy adults leading busy lives. Over two decades on from the album’s release, Britain experienced another moment of misplaced jingoism and the pursuit of national interests dominates global politics. After a late night in Soho I was fading fast and it’s nearly dawn and “Bar Italia” span in my head. It seems apt that the album’s swan song should be the one that resonated most as an adult getting ready to make significant changes to my life, whilst living in a divided Britain.
In 1995 Pulp promised the future’s owned by you and me but I never started that revolution in my velvet blazer. When I play the album again today, I remember a young teenager hungry for the future, who made plans for reunions I never kept and thought won’t it be strange when we’re all fully grown?
ALBUM: Different Class
ARTIST: Pulp
YEAR: 1995
LABEL: Island
LENGTH: 52:50