The cheesier side of English life is just a cup of tea for Blur and Pulp, two bands that put the average bloke under the microscope.

A Saturday night romp before about 1,200 concertgoers in a sold-out show at the Vic Theatre could have been called "The Smirking Brits Tour '94" - for the ambivalence of the former's lead singer and the preening of the latter's.

Perhaps squirming to get out of an ill-fitting Adidas jacket, Blur's vocalist, Damon Albarn, hopped madly, even through his facial expressions made him seem emotionally removed during much of the hourlong, 16-song set. [...]

Lead singer Jarvis Cocker of the opening act, Pulp, a fivesome from Sheffield, England, is of the moan-and-groan school of singing. Covered in the garage-sale chic of a gray double-breasted suitcoat over a lime-green shirt, Cocker wiggled his spindly legs as he knocked off tunes such as "Lipgloss" and "Joyriders" from Pulp's fine record "His 'N' Hers."

Guitarist Russell Senior, organist Candida Doyle, drummer Nick Banko [sic], bassist Steve Mackey and keyboardist/guitarist Mark Webber conjured sounds that crossed Echo & the Bunnymen with sound effects from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."