Review by Philip

Roll up! Roll up! Enter the gig of glitzy delight - for Pulp are playing tonight at the students' union which bears resemblance to a school hall, draped and bequeathed in net curtains to make it more appealing. All in all, it's the perfect setting.

After the mandatory waiting for eternity, long after the support band, Pram, have packed up and gone, Pulp emerge a[n]d rip into 'Joyriders' with its swirling, smudgy sounds of the 1970s - so characteristic of Pulp - and with the lyrics of "Hey, you in the Jesus sandals - wouldn't you like to come and watch some vandals", merely highlight Pulp's kit[c]shness. They are in full flight when the[y] play 'Lipgloss', their recent hit which glides about on the twiddly guitar sounds before reaching fever pitch at the climax.

A great deal of Pulp's undeniable charm comes from Jarvis Cocker, the lead singer, who looks like the love child of Ian Curtis and Brett Anderson. In between songs, he follows his urge to meander around, telling anecdotes of anything that seems important to him at the time, or half-related to the next song.

The basis of Pulp's songs are concerned with sexual fumbling which, either end in embarrassment, or failure. 'Babies' is one of those songs, ripping out from the speakers - packed with energy in all of its 'making-do' glory, with Jarvis doing his usual and bizarre preening routine, straight from the Hong-Kong phooey book of Kung Fu. 'Do You Remember the First Time' is another of Pulp's masterpieces with Jarvis's gaspy vocals being led on by the jangly-twangling of guitars, as he reveals more about his fateful experiences.

Pulp's quirky pop songs have a tackiness about them, which is where Pulp get their charm from. So, Pulp are a band to be experienced and to be charmed by - afterwards, everything was more colourful.