Emily's Albums A to Z

Listened: Friday July 2

The subtitle of Freaks is “Ten songs about power, claustrophobia, suffocation, and holding hands.” Yep, that about sums it up! Needless to say, this album has a very arty and gothic tone to it. People in the songs are stalked, rejected, and beaten. Beautifully.

My favorite track, in spite of myself, is Anorexic Beauty. It’s a totally bizarre song – I can’t tell if it’s ironic or if someone really does have a thing for skeletal women. The lyrics alternate between “The girl of my nightmares, erotic and skull-faced. The girl of my nightmares” and “Anorexic beauty, feather-weight perfection,  anorexic beauty, underweight goddess.” Is she a nightmare or a goddess? Can he only find a goddess in his nightmares? This song is also highly unusual in that Russell Senior is singing the lyrics instead of Jarvis.

I think I prefer the later Pulp works, but this album certainly has an odd charisma to it. This must be where they were trying out the fabulous dirty feeling they later honed on This Is Hardcore and others.