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| Supergrass Life On Other Planets EMI
If you’re a Supergrass fan, you're gonna love their new record. It's full of the two things that they’re so bloody good at: terrifically exuberant rock songs (Za, Rush Hour Soul, Grace) and jaunty piano-driven, harmony-drenched pop (Seen The Light, Can’t Get Up, Evening Of The Day). The only thing that stops me pronouncing this their best yet is the absence of some standout singles material a la Caught By The Fuzz and Sun Hits The Sky. As it is, ‘Life On Other Planets’ is certainly a return to form after their relatively pedestrian last record (‘Supergrass’, 1999). It's also the most fun thing they’ve done since their debut ‘I Should Coco’. The Supergrass fondness for pop culture is all over this record (for example, they reference Elvis on Seen The Light) and their love of mid 70s rock is now even more apparent - listen to that snare sound and the bassline on Za and don’t tell me you don’t hear Bowie’s Boys Keep Swinging, that the closing mood piece Run isn’t a big nod to The Thin White Duke’s ‘Station To Station’ days, or that the Europop ode Prophet 15 isn’t a new millennium version of Wing’s Let ‘Em In. Of course, it goes without saying that the Beatles and the Kinks continue to exert a melodic and aesthetic influence over everything else. ‘Life On Other Planets’ sits somewhere between the catchy pop of ‘I Should Coco’ and the big rock moments of ‘In It For The Money’, which is not at all a bad place to be. Peter Strelan |
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