good art bad wine: Album of the Month: BEYOND THE PALE by Jarv Is...

You could never beat the claim that Arctic Monkey's AM is the greatest British album since Revolver (hello, NME), but when critics called Beyond The Pale Jarvis Cocker's best work since This Is Hardcore, it rubbed me the wrong way for two reasons. First, Pulp's We Love Life never got the recognition it so clearly deserved. Second, Jarvis Cocker's solo records are nothing to sniff at. I would particularly like to mention the unjustly ignored collaboration with Chilly Gonzales from 2017. Room 29 is an absolute gem of an album, by turns sexy and depressing. Beyond The Pale, in its turn, is a wonderful LP, but it is only his best since the last one. Which, considering that we are dealing with Jarvis Cocker here, is pretty good.

Beyond The Pale was released by his new band called (quite daftly) JARV IS... . It features seven lengthy songs based on grooves that build and evolve into various modes of artistic expression. The instrumentation is rich but not guitar-heavy - "Save The Whale", for instance, is based on a minimalist violin groove with Cocker sensually intoning something about moving 'beyond the pale'. It is an engaging groove, and it leaves you wanting more.

The single "Must I Evolve?" is even better, an intense anthem of little electronic subtlety, with Cocker's classic scream reminiscent of "Acrylic Afternoons". It is a modern day "Common People", if you will. "Am I Missing Something?" is terrific, too, with that classic resolution at the end. When Cocker sings about 'waiting for my sponsorship deal', you have to wonder (like you always did in the days of "Razzmatazz" and "I Spy"): is this genius or is this totally tasteless? The answer has always been the same: it is genius. Then comes the brilliantly evolving groove of "House Music All Night Long", which features clever backup singing from the band and ends up being my favourite song on the LP.

"Sometimes I Am Pharaoh" is another winner, starting with an intoxicating robotic rhythm and then building up to what could possibly be the greatest groove on the entire album. "Swanky Modes" is what its title suggests, a heartbreaking ballad, seductively crooned and enveloped in a swanky mode. Finally, "Children Of The Echo" is a somewhat downbeat closer with another great melody (the chorus will stay with you long after you stop listening to the album) and another great vocal performance from Jarvis.

So in case you want to know how Beyond The Pale measures up to Cocker's albums with Pulp, I can tell you that it is up there with the three classics you are thinking of. The man sounds invigorated here, completely in charge. How does Beyond The Pale measure up to the greatest album of 2020? Well, as of July, I have not heard a better one.

JULY ROUNDUP:

Mike Polizze - Long Lost Solace Find