2011-06-27
Babies & This Is Hardcore
I can’t remember who mentioned it, but a few months ago I saw someone mention Pulp’s This Is Hardcore music video, and I dug it out and watched it. Recently I think I’ve seen it every week or two. It’s fantastic.
It dates from a time when bands were more free not to perform in videos, but instead to just go a little crazy. So you get Cocker in a minute-long Busby Berkeley inspired reverie, amongst five minutes of fractured behind-the-scenes of a… noir? gangster? movie from Hollywood’s heyday.
I’m mentioning it partly because you can almost see in the earlier, much lower budget, video for Babies the seeds of the later work. Did Jarvis ever study film? It seems as if he must have. Both of them play around, although in Babies it’s a little more… obvious.
Anyway, assuming the links work for you (is Vevo US only? It gets hard to tell) then both videos are well worth a watch. I’d also recommend reading Owen Hatherley’s piece for the Guardian about how Pulp matter more than ever.
