This week's NME bumps Jarvis Cocker from the front cover in favour of The Strokes. I know this because the Pulp info mailing list said "look out for Jarvis on the cover of NME this week." <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=dickon_edwards&itemid=17220&thread=84804#t84804">[Since writing this entry, it transpires the mailing list made a mistake, and Pulp were never planned for the cover. See these comments.]</a>
As Pulp are releasing their Hits album and calling it a day (for now), you'd have thought that would warrant some attention. But instead the Cocker interview is tucked away inside, at a page and a half, most of which is taken up by a photo. The piece isn't even referred to on the cover at ALL.
The Strokes cover story, meanwhile, is a three page "news" article by Steve Sutherland. The news? The Strokes play a gig in LA and go down quite well. They haven't even got a new record out.
Sample text: "[A bunch of Strokes fans]… look so like a band, if you were in A&R you'd sign them on the spot and worry about songs and record sales and shit like that later."
And:
" 'Dr Julian says get fucked up!' Sounds cool. Let's get to it!"
And:
"Join us at the Whiskey later, and provided you're down with a chick on the guestlist…"
Without a hint of irony anywhere. The piece is deeply embarrassing to read.
Just how old is Steve Sutherland?
I recall he was once a champion of Orange Juice in the 80s, that famously anti-rockist band. A band who, like Jarvis Cocker, had a little bit more to say than how great it is to get fucked up and rilly rilly out of it, maaaan.
NME is now officially Darwin's Waiting Room.
