Jarvis Cocker--Further Complications: Jarvis Moves From Your Wardrobe to the Garage, Deviance Still In Tact

Throughout his reign as the sexnerd front man of Pulp, then his role as thinly-veiled outer ego Darren Spooner in the electro outfit Relaxed Muscle, not to mention his first efforts as a witheringly witty solo artist, Jarvis Cocker has mastered the art of come-hither wryness. Therefore, it’s easy to understand why he would want to stretch out and express his latest mid-life crisis in a different way.

On Further Complications, his sophomore effort as a solo artist, Cocker called upon Steve Albini, that angry man who prefers to record artists rather than produce them, to cast a loose and loud feel over the proceedings. The results, while commendably risky, are mixed.

The opener and title track “Further Complications” may take a few Jarv devotees aback, as Cocker unveils his new affinity for shouting. Cocker has never really pushed his voice too far past yelping, so this new vocal method is cause for alarm, not to mention indicative of why he’s stuck to addressing his words in a fey sneer for so long. This album has no shortage of zingers, but shouting doesn’t heighten their impact.

Arch utterance…then…zing always works, however, and Cocker does seem to still be aware of this, as he returns to that delivery more than once on the disc. The biggest standouts here are the tracks which sound like well-preserved Pulp jewels. “Slush” is musically reminiscent of We Love Life single “The Trees,” and is a quality holiday song to boot. “Hold Still” pairs a nice groove with a glammy chorus, and offers its share of blue label witty lyrics, "kittens are cute but a full-grown cat can be cuter" being a personal favorite. And “You’re In My Eyes (Discosong)” is a lush, eight minute disco monologue that takes the listener away from whatever mundane activity they may be partaking in and places them directly on the dance floor of the song.

As far as the shoutier tracks go, “Angela,” a song Cocker gave away as a free Mp3 on his website, is the most successful in replicating that ‘60’s psych-garage sound. “Homewrecker” features some cool, vaguely post-punk horns which aid in making the song a stompy blast.

“Pilchard,” a weird instrumental freak out, doesn’t quite work, however, and “Fuckingsong” and “Caucasian Blues” are--with the exception of possessing great titles and boasting a witty lyric here and there--are mostly forgettable. The placement of these two songs before “Slush” and “You’re In My Eyes” ultimately proves beneficial, as the latter tracks are rendered all the more remarkable. After an album of clamorousness, it’s somewhat startling for things to end so sentimentally. Underneath that titillating strut and those saucy come-ons, maybe Cocker--to paraphrase a line in “Leftovers”--really is a teddy bear, after all.

Level of Disappointment: 6; but this is only because I expect a little more from Jarvis . I’ll be seeing him in July, and, seeing as he’s one of the best front men ever, there is little chance that will disappoint.

Watch: Jarvis playing with some blocks (courtesy of Youtube user lindadox, ripped from jarviscocker.net).

Read: A fun interview with Jarv (yes, they are all fun reads, but this one has some particularly good quotes).