Pulp – Mis-Shapes Review

Whatever soured Pulp on Mis-Shapes the first time around appears to have dispersed. The Different Class classic fell out of favour with the band towards the end of their first run and missed out on a spot on Hits. Whatever the case for its absence, that rift between the band and Mis-Shapes has since been healed. Pulp has featured Mis-Shapes on most of their Encore and More tour dates, and rightly so. They’re playing to an audience of those titular outcasts, but in the time between 1995 and now, that misfit group has swelled and grown. Counterculture now, ironically, borders on the verge of mainstream. Alternative rock is still seeping through the cracks and occasionally an Angine de Poitrine or Geordie Greep will snag some time in a conventional spotlight. Not that they want it, and nor should they. Part of the image as an outcast comes in appealing to music fans, not followers of an individual artist, without care for other genres or opportunities to listen and learn. Mis-Shapes’ sentiment has not changed but the people who listen to the song have changed.  

When it first released, Sorted for E’s & Wizz was bundled with it. P.T.A., a delightful B-side and a live version of Common People from Glastonbury Festival, were also included. But Mis-Shapes led the charge and is a magnificent commentary on a cultural divide that has grown wider over the years. Those who want to go out are still facing opposition. Not just from those whose cultural outlook is different or obtuse but actively negating the world around them. Club culture has died for some of us because of a blend of tinnitus, sobriety, and a desire not to have to listen to whatever bland flavours are now in the charts, but for others the audience has left them behind. Those trying to catch up may be kept from doing so by those who now view the modern culture as a closed members club, rather than an experience which is meant to allow people to build towards learning more. That’s what Mis-Shapes implies, anyway.  

Those who are negating the culture around them, who are mocking and jeering those with a deeper interest in music, art, film, whatever the world may offer them, are the ones whose futures, mapped out as they are, aren’t much to shout about. Jarvis Cocker takes a stand against the times and in doing so means Pulp will always be on the fringe of mainstream, even when they’re headlining their biggest ever tour to date. The volume of mis-shapes and misfits has grown, as has the mainstream culture crowd looking to drag us back down and then kick us out for being different. Mis-Shapes is instrumentally formidable too. Strong, strong work the whole way through that feels in-step with the slight Europop overhang of Pulp’s previous works but with a spark of that British rock scene. Still a staggering piece of work and it hasn’t lost a step even when translated to stages where tens of thousands are in attendance.  

Unity is the key to Mis-Shapes, a tone that has remained over the last thirty years. Instrumentally astonishing work with a nice instrumental break before the rallying cry that has united audiences over three decades. A generation-to-generation triumph that, as the likes of Common People and I Spy do, looks beyond ageism or classism and focuses on what can be achieved with likeminded people coming together to kick against a mainstream bore. Mis-Shapes has a sensational, biting quality to it that lingers as a rallying cry to this day. Few songs have that staying power and fewer still can be adapted to the stage so long after release. Pulp has no problem doing that and with it comes a revolutionary song that has stood the test of time.