Firing out an immediate call to arms for the “misshapes, mistakes, misfits”, Pulp lock onto their audience and never let go. Different Class and their meteoric impact come not through a challenge against what was popular for the time but through the thick field of representation. Moody, sexually charged and ready for a reunion, Pulp pushed through with an exceptional piece of work on Different Class. Edification of their class put to twelve tracks, and then some other bits and pieces that soon followed on a deluxe version. From the warning shot of Mis Shapes and the energetic tone it takes, to the sultry charms of Pencil Skirt, there is no escaping the technical and instrumental powerhouse of Pulp.
More specific to that are the obvious, anthemic double bill of Common People and Disco 2000. Ran down to the point of the record skipping out and slicing through, those two tracks are still club classics. Rightly so, because behind a sophisticated pop at the powers that be and the continually relevant lyricisms, Jarvis Cocker and company articulate themselves with independence in their hearts. Split up by the spiteful I Spy, a track that laments an unhappily married couple and the hopes of their breakdown, Different Class takes a quirky, instrumental pacing that simply isn’t available in other albums, from this band or otherwise. Much of that, naturally, depends on Cocker’s lyricism.
From the overt sexualisation of the A-Side to the loved up, drugged out B-Side, there is a broad range that trickles through Different Class. That B-Side feel would crash through on This is Hardcore just three years later, an equally bitter and tender album to follow up the bright lights and starry Europop leftovers of Pulp’s earlier works. Make no mistake, Different Class is a rare beast that utilises its past presence of squealy, whining vocals on His ‘n’ Hers, but refines them into a scathing analysis of all things culture. From upper-class tourism of the working ways on Common People to how the band “will blow your paradise away” on I Spy, the scathing consistency is white hot. How much of that is still relevant is striking, from the delicacy of Something Changed and its acoustic powers to the hangover-filled Monday Morning.
Never defined as the greatest of all time, let alone of its generation, but immediately leaping out as a clear frontrunner, Different Class sets a standard like no other. Club culture commentaries, rampaging political activism that bleeds into quality riffs and instrumental hooks, held together by lyrics dripping with sexual sarcasm. As intense as it gets, there is always a rewarding break around the corner. Sorted for E’s & Wizz ramps up the B-Side after the tender and introspective Something Changed, and soon the comedown is back on with Underwear and album closer Bar Italia. There is a presence in these tracks from the artists involved, a timelessness to the bars, laser gun layers on Common People and the hidden intricacies that push this album to perfection. From Nick Cave pub rock adaptations to shuffling around a sticky dancefloor in the dingy upstairs of an indie nightclub, Disco 2000, and Different Class, has a truly, truly special place. Its influence and legacy are like no other, its layered time capsule effect is as intense as it was way back when Britpop ruled the nation.
