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Album Review
by SaschaS
2-10-2002
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Supergrass: high fun, long sideburns |
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Supergrass: 'Life On Other Planets' (Parlophone)
Supergrass do it with wires’n’skins
There was a band a couple of decades ago, called Dr. Feelgood… Supergrass do not play anything approximating that band from the 1970s/80s but certainly are inspired by the same period and provide similar kind of reasons-2-b-cheerful. Unless certain other life’s issues disturb you, no Supergrass song will ever make you feel sad or cry.
It will make you smile, be happy, bop around like a hapless drunk (or toked), and that’s what this trio is the best at. They tried to depart from such sound platform on their previous album, the eponymous third disc in 1999, and it didn’t suit them. Now, after a lengthy break, the band is back where it all works like Swiss railways.
Gaz Coombes, stubbornly cultivating his sideburns (respec’!), Mickey Quinn and Danny Goffey are together to provide excuses to disregard everything and give in to hedonism! There is not a big message here, lyrics are neither something demanding magnifying-glass of analysis nor irrelevant; they simply reflect what’s on the mind of its creators. Musically, we are looking at ‘legacies’…
Although too many to name, ‘Seen The Light’ is a total tribute to Marc Bolan’s T-Rex despite Coombes appearing surprised when quizzed about it. More ambitious and epic-nearing is ‘LA Song’ that starts with a Thin Lizzy guitar-type intro, soon augmented by The Stranglers/The Doors sounding organ until it evolves into this complex bridge recalling The Beatles’ psychedelic arrangements.
‘Never Done Nothing Like That Before’ is pop punk, ‘Brecon Beacons’ is ska-tastic, ‘Prophet 15’ sports great groove and even better organ solo, ‘Run’ is deeper into psychedelic ‘tripping’ that comes near paralleling the Pink Floyd’s early days! It’s not hard to spot what Steven Spielberg saw in this band to approach them for a TV-series in the vein of ‘The Monkees’ (ask your grandparent)! They wisely rejected the idea but it is going to be tricky to keep it fresh, enthusiastic, vital as they knock back life’s fourth decade.
The album’s title reflects Coombes’s belief that there is life on other planets while on this one they do it with guitars… There was a band a couple of decades ago, called Dr. Feelgood; they played blues-rock and every of their albums and gigs was a humongous fiesta. Supergrass do the same with pop-rock…
8/10
SaschaS
2-10-2002
Supergrass’ album ‘Life On Other Planets’ is released 30 September 2002 on Parlophone
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