Release Date: Sep 27, 2005
Genre(s): Rock, Alternative
Record label: Capitol
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Supergrass have gone up, down and sideways during the decade since the speedfreak-pop of I Should Coco; now they have assimilated all their experiences into this massively impressive fifth album. While the music is eclectic and teeming with exotic textures, it always feels coherent and easy to love, and might even earn the band a nomination as Britain's Best Pop Group. Sometimes they make it easy, as in the bright clanging anthem of Kick in the Teeth or the exquisite and Beatle-ish Low C, but elsewhere they tease and provoke.
Supergrass have a hard time coming down from their musical highs. Every time they release a giddy, irresistible pop album, they repent on the next record, crafting a moodier response. This happened with their 1995 debut, I Should Coco, which engendered two hangover records: the sprawling, ambitious, yet thrilling In It for the Money and its hazy, unfocused 1999 Supergrass, which, despite the instant glitter classic "Pumping on Your Stereo," was so scattered it sounded as if the guys weren't sure if they wanted to be a band at all anymore.
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