Pitchfork

Photo by Anoulay Tsai

Childhood obesity; it's an epidemic. And perhaps none has suffered more at the hands of precocious pudge than Jarvis Cocker-- well, apart from the kids, I guess. I mean, he claims "fat children took my life."

Much like ODB before him, though, Jarvis is for the kids, and, far from ignoring this ballooning problem, he's raising awareness. He'll issue two vinyl singles for propulsive Jarvis cut "Fat Children" July 16 on the Rough Trade label. The 7" version comes with "Loss Adjuster"-- a track heretofore represented by excerpts on Jarvis-- while the bigger version, fittingly enough, gets an "Extra-Large mix" from Pulp bassist Steve Mackey.

No need to worry about Jarvis packing on the pounds this summer; he's got himself quite a workout routine, including a run-in-place at quite a few of the bigger Euro fests. He'll set off his regimen this weekend, as he brings new meaning to the tired phrase "madcap eclecticism" (and, apparently, "The Pyramid of Pachyderms") at his own magisterial Meltdown Festival.

"Fat Children" 7":

A: Fat Children (album version)
B: Loss Adjuster

"Fat Children" 12":

A: Fat Kidz (Steve Mackey's "Let Them Eat Acid" Extra-large Mix)
B: Fat Children (album version)

Jarvis in person:

06-23 London, England - Royal Festival Hall (Meltdown Festival)
07-13 Madrid, Spain - Boadilla del Monte (Summercase Festival)
07-14 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Forum (Summercase Festival)
07-15 Suffolk, England - Henham Park (Latitude Festival)
08-18 Chemlsford, England - V Festival
08-19 Stafford, England - V Festival
08-25 Paris, France - Rock en Seine Festival
08-31 Argyll, Scotland - Connect Music Festival
09-01 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic Festival