Ha! so much for genius Jarvis Cocker�s suggestion that he was to emigrate to France and make the most of being a family man after the split of Pulp last December. While this smashing new project of his in Relaxed Muscle is pretty low profile and underground at present (innovatively working as he is with Jason Buckle), these 3 tracks alone promise multi-orgo-cosmically exciting sounds to come.
Akin to Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton who went off on his tod as �Biscuit Boy,� Jarvis� current alias is as Darren Spooner, and his new musical sound is much more dancey and beat and bass-led than anything he�s produced before.
Annulled is the sheer poetry of Pulp, though �Billy Jack� is still seen through with a rock guitar undercurrent (that would never have really sounded out of place in Pulp�s wrath) and an intriguing introductory narrative that assures us, �Brothers and Sisters � you ain�t heard nothing like this before.� And you know what? Cocker-cum-Spooner is darn right, as this tune comes on like a Disco-Western, lashed with quirky SFX of ricocheting gunshots and even a mid-song game of �Simon Says�� Billy Jack style, and courtesy of Jarvis� arty approach that so nods in David Bowie�s direction.
The b-sides in �Sexualised� and �Year of The Dog� are just as original, with the beat and bass-bent former tune winking at 80�s chart-pop at its best, while the latter�s space-age synth throb and vocals would never ever lead back to Jarvis if you didn�t know he was involved already on hearing the track.
Relax. He�s done it. Jarvis has neatly wormed his way back into the music industry with ease; and the type of music that he�s involving himself with � as always � is truly an inspiration. 4/5
(STEVE RUDD)
Release date: 28th July 2003