It is a gentle, mainly acoustic album that gives very few signs to the musical directions
Pulp would later pursue. Lacking any hint of synthesizers or dance music, the album occasionally touches on the majestic, theatrical ballads of
Scott Walker, as well as the stark, folky song poems of
Leonard Cohen. However, at this stage,
Jarvis Cocker is hardly the lyrical equivalent of either songwriter, and his singing is endearingly awkward -- occasionally he misses notes, and he misses the tune every once in a while. Nevertheless, there are tunes throughout the album, whether it's the light opening single "My Lighthouse" or the silly music hall stomp of "Love Love." It isn't a great album, but it has an effortless, amateurish charm that makes up for the unformed songs and the band's rudimentary musical skills. [Fire Records' 2012 expanded reissue of
It is remastered and contains four bonus tracks: a single version of "My Lighthouse," an alternate mix of "Blue Girls," "Please Don't Worry" taken from a 1981 session with John Peel, and, finally, the previously unreleased "Sink or Swim."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine