This is the definitive history of Pulp from their humble beginnings as Arabacus Pulp in the school canteen to the band whose album Different Class soared straight in to the charts at number one. Pulp are at the forefront of the Britpop scene, their lead singer, Jarvis Cocker, is a media icon, the most charismatic, individual and sartorially elegant pop star the British pop scene has witnessed for years. But his success didn't come overnight. At thirty-two - old enough, as he points out, to be the father of some fans - Jarvis Cocker has put in years of long, hard work to keep the band alive through line-up changes, record company disasters, periods of numbing hibernation and the numerous daily tragedies documented in his songs. Martin Aston, journalist and long-term Pulp fan, tells the full story from the band's very first incarnation to the present. The book is accompanied by some never-before-seen pictures.

Despite the News Of The World's repeated attempts to locate the yellowed armpit on Jarvis' drip-dry reputation it appears that, like Michael Jackson before them, Pulp are in danger of becoming that most suspicious of things - a filth-free pop phenomenon. Faced with the monumental task of unearthing at least one fact about Jarv and the Gang that hasn't been rehashed in the music papers this past year, Martin Aston has evidently trawled through every Pulp article since their seminal 1978 Sounds appearance when they had - notebooks at the ready - Jamie Pinchbeck of Satan guesting on bass.

However, despite his tenure in this Pop Library of Babel, Aston's Pulp is still startlingly free of anything more damning than the fact that 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)' was once banned by Radio Hallam. Whether this is indicative of some kind of totalitarian Britpop revisionism, or merely the eager effusing of the ultimate fan, Aston's approach can't help but leave Jarvis wide open for a far more 'probing' analysis.

What with Ian Robertson's forthcoming Oasis biog providing the tabloids with a cover story about £4,000-a-week coke habits, there will undoubtedly be a subsequent Pulp book of equally rumour-mongous proportions. So, whether the real dope on Pulp went 'missing' from Mr Aston's filling cabinet after a mysterious midnight break-in, or they really are the Singing Nuns of Britpop, for the moment Pulp is a down-the-line, functional handbook for the devoted masses.

From Jarv's early dalliance with such offshoot projects as Michael's Foot and The Jarvis Cocker Explosion Experience, to the Jacko-baiting present, it's as close as we're going to get to the truth until Woodward and Bernstein get to work on Vol 2.
3/5

"He's very like Morrissey - capricious and solipsistic"

Pulp biographer Martin Aston uncovers the real Jarvis

How much help did you get from the Pulp people?
"(Laughter) He laughed. (Long pause) When I first approached the band they seemed fine and I was able to do interviews with all of the members. At the time they were doing promos for "Different Class" and so they were all very busy. Then they went and asked me if I could put the book back, which I couldn't because of my contract. It was rumoured that they'd been told they could do their own book so, after I'd started the book they kind of withdrew their help. I mean, I understand. I don't think they did the wrong thing. They did give me permission to use various photos of them in their early days which I'm grateful for but it all went a bit weird."

Did you have to remove anything libellous?
"There were things I was warned off due to libel but the only stuff that couldn't really go in the book was their problems with record labels which was mostly based on heresay anyway. There was nothing sensational, just some financial intricacies.
"I didn't want to get into the middle of some slanging match. When I did speak to people about Jarvis they were either unwilling to say anything nasty or there really was nothing to nasty to say. I mean, I'd say he's somewhat capricious and solipsistic, very like Morrissey in a way, but there's no dark side. He's just a very amiable, lovable character. Honestly."

What do you think Pulp will make of it?
"I've no idea. They've been going for 14 years. In many ways 1993 was their 'year zero' and anything prior to that might now seem tired and haggard to them. I'd imagine that the last thing they'd want to read was the awfulness and problems of the past."

Do you think there is a more private side to Jarvis that he keeps hidden?
"I don't think it's that different. It's one of his greatest strengths. What you see is what you get. Just that fact meant that there was no need to dig. To be honest I'm not that kind of journalist and, in any case, I don't think there is a case of a secret life. I mean, he's very private in terms of his girlfriend and I totally avoided that area because I' don't feel it's my role. I don't have a tabloid mentality."