Rough Trade 50: Pulp

The Britpop dominance of the 90s was spearheaded in the mainstream by the immovable forces of two powerhouses: Blur and Oasis. Engaging in their own ‘Battle of Britpop’, they have long been the two groups synonymous with the genre and its success in British music. However, looming in the background, Pulp built a following of their own by doing Britpop in their own way. From their seminal singalongs to their ever-vibrant frontman Jarvis Cocker, it’s hard not to love them for what they’ve given us over the years. And while Oasis may have made the majority of the headlines for their sell-out reunion tour last year, Pulp did something in 2025 that the Gallagher brothers couldn’t get anywhere near doing: release a new album. ‘More’, their first record in 24 years, proved to be a phenomenal return to form for the group, reaching #1 in the UK charts and making many year-end lists. Tonight they played ‘More’ front to back - the first time the band has played an album in full in this way - demonstrating both the importance of the album to the band and the audience, and above all else, the importance of Pulp to UK music.

While Pulp didn’t have an opener on their 2025 UK arena tour, they chose to give the spotlight to Bridie Monds-Watson, who goes by the stage name of SOAK, to open tonight’s proceedings in a beautiful manner. Donning just a guitar on stage, all the attention in the room was solely fixed on them to provide 30 minutes of quality entertainment. At points, you could hear a pin drop in the room, with SOAK at one point comparing it to a school assembly. The real quality of SOAK that’s displayed here is their songwriting, playing a selection of newly-written material where they’ve taken interesting topics and elegantly portrayed them in an intriguing manner. Whether it was reflecting on growing up playing Colin McRae Rally video games on the song ‘Subaru’ or the feeling of exhaling cold winter air on the song ‘-30’, SOAK painted the scene in their own way, leaving those in the audience excited by the imminent release of this music to the world.

Introducing the show as a “PowerPoint presentation” featuring anecdotal accounts from the creative process of the record, we go straight into the record’s lead single, the excellent ‘Spike Island’. Tonight, a twelve-piece string ensemble known as the Elysium Collective joined Pulp on stage, who have worked with artists such as Fontaines DC and Florence and the Machine, as well as being involved in the studio sessions for ‘More’. Their presence in this live setting added a significant amount of substance to these tracks already beaming with many qualities. The importance of the strings on the record cannot be understated, as highlighted by the 3rd track on the album ‘Grown Ups’. Initially conceived as a demo in the 90s, Cocker played us its original inception without any lyrics, as he admitted they struggled to write about it and make it work. This track works brilliantly in the context of the record, and even more so when played in a venue as beautiful as the Royal Festival Hall. While the music throughout the evening was phenomenal, it was even more intriguing hearing Cocker describe the creative process for this momentous album. Whether it was using the Jersey beat to turn ‘Slow Jam’ from being “sad” to being a “sad banger”, or how ‘Farmer’s Market’ started out as a 24-minute contemplative improvisation during lockdown, the way Cocker reflects on these experiences that shaped the album is truly fascinating.

On what many regard as the highlight of the record, ‘Got To Have Love’, Cocker again shows a demo of the song from the late 90s, this time with a set of squeamish and questionable vocals that he didn’t feel very fond of. Thanks to the blossoming relationship and marriage with his wife Kim Sion, who he got married to in 2024, the power of love gave him the desire to return to this song, and it was the power of love that got everyone out of their seats to dance by the end of the first chorus. As for the vocals, Cocker sounds as brilliant as ever with an impressive vocal range even with him turning 63 this coming September. While the end of the album is less upbeat and focuses more on creating a warm and calming atmosphere, the seamless transitions highlight the cohesiveness of the record, such as from ‘Partial Eclipse’ to ‘The Hymn From the North’. 

While ‘A Sunset’ marked the end of the main album, there were two more written tracks from the sessions that made an appearance. The first of which was the gut-wrenching B-side ‘Open Strings’, dedicated to the band’s long time bassist Steve Mackey who died in 2023. Cocker tells a story about when the band shot the back cover for the album in Chile, they left one of Mackey’s ties and a commemorative pin by a rock to serve as a reminder of the legacy he’s left on not just the group, but on Britpop as whole. Lastly, we hear the energetic and cathartic ‘Begging For Change’ from the recent War Child album ‘HELP(2)’, where Cocker asks the crowd to imitate the screaming school children in the song by letting out a scream themselves - it was more of a whimpering cheer than a scream, but I’m sure Cocker appreciated the effort!

For an encore of Pulp’s earlier work, the band steered far away from the mega hits like ‘Common People’ and ‘Disco 2000’, instead opting to perform a set of tracks that would utilise the mammoth string section that was present tonight. The first of which was a real treat for long time Pulp fans, the 8-minute epic ‘Wickerman’, which received its first live performance in nearly 15 years. A powerful arrangement of ‘This is Hardcore’ followed, delivered with such a fiery intensity by both Cocker and the abundance of talented musicians on stage alongside him. Hearing these fresh spins on long-time established tracks was a treat, as was the surprise inclusion of a cover of ABBA’s ‘The Day Before You Came’, a song the band performed as part of the BBC 2 Piano Room series. 

Closing the show out with the classic ‘Something Changed’, a rapturous ovation broke out, and quite rightly so. While they’ve never necessarily had the level of media publicity that some of their Britpop compatriots had, they’ve never needed it. Their music has always done the talking, and that’s more important than anything. It’s a joy to witness Cocker and co. on stage playing new music, and when their output is still this exceptional, it has me very excited about what’s to come from this set of Sheffield superstars. Even if they don’t choose to make another record, the constant quality they’ve provided us over the last 4 decades has been ‘More’ than enough.