Jarvis – ‘Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time’ (Rough Trade) Released 08/01/07

There are many reasons to love Jarvis Cocker. The sardonic chronicler of Britpop’s heyday, he was the gloomy shadow lurking behind Noel n’ Damon’s sparring, releasing intelligent, aloof social commentary like ‘Disco 2000’ and ‘Sorted for E’s and Whizz’. Not only that, he bared his bum to Michael Jackson, appeared in a Harry Potter film, won Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes with a Rolf Harris impression and released a song called ‘The ****s are Still Running the World’. ‘Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time’, off debut solo album Jarvis, isn’t vintage Cocker, it’s all soaring choruses and endearingly out of tune vocals, but it’s still better than most of the crap swilling about at this time of year.

Still displaying the razor sharp humour that so endeared us to him all those years ago, Jarvis warns an unnamed girl to tie down a shitty boyfriend because she’s “not getting any younger”, and “the years flash by in an instant… Then some skinny bitch walks by in some hot pants/ And he's running out the door.” Despite the Alex Turners and Mike Skinners of this world giving him a lyrical run for his money, Jarvis is still showing that there hundreds of reasons to fall in love with him all over again.