(This review is exclusive to this website)

Supergrass - Life On Other Planets (Island Records)

Speaking to Rolling Stone Magazine in 1970, musician David Crosby was musing on the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Vietnam War, saying “Somebody isn’t listening...I would’ve thought Sgt. Pepper could’ve stopped the war just by putting too many good vibes in the air for anybody to have a war around.” This sentiment could easily apply to the latest disc from Supergrass, that merry band of English boys who are adored in their home country, but who somehow never found mass acceptance in the United States. Call them a modern-day Kinks or Small Faces if you’d like--as with those bands, the lack of American acceptance is a giant loss to those not in the know. From their first release, 1994’s I Should Coco, Supergrass has consistently put out top quality power-rock, full of punkish melodic anthems that stick in one’s head, beg that the volume be pumped up, and are just packed full of youthful enthusiasm. On Life On Other Planets, they’ve come through once again, and they’ve somehow upped the ante.

The album kicks off with swirling fairground sounds, giving way to a piano pounding reminiscent of “Chopsticks,” and then unleashing the guitars, bass, and drums, bursting into the full-on glam rock of “Za.” References to the glam 70s English rock scene are abundant, but they are never more than as unapologetic sign posts of what has come before. Tongue planted firmly in cheek, singer Gaz Coombes sings “Face, such a beautiful face/ Time waits for no one, so why don’t you get it on? Yeah!” imploring the attractive listener to make use of his or her looks while they can. “Rush Hour Soul” starts off even quicker, with a brisk organ lick enveloped by crunching guitars, lush backing harmonies, and a general cacophony. The production, as we’ve come to expect on a Supergrass record, is crisp, clear, and never muddies, or detracts from, the music.
“Seen The Light” is less manic, and a little bit softer. “Well you can try to understand/ I’m a rock’n’roll singer in a rock’n’roll band” sings Coombes on the chorus, sneering in a mock Elvis tone. Three songs in, it’s clear that criticism levied against the band that their previous album, Supergrass, lagged a little and contained too many meandering moments, has been taken to heart. Almost to a one, the songs on Life on Other Planets are fast, catchy, and strident, and nowhere is this more apparent than on “Breckon Beacons,” a Clash-lite ska-fest that serves up a murder mystery in a three minute burst of danceable energy. The fact that so many tracks here could easily stand alone as singles speaks to the seemingly effortless composing power of Coombes, bassist Mickey Quinn, and drummer Danny Goffey. Moving from straight-punk tracks like “Never Done Nothing Like That Before,” (a Strokes/Ramones pastiche which clocks in at a mere 1:43, and which is the echo of their own “Caught By The Fuzz”) to the light, folksy shuffle of “Evening Of The Day,” to the moody melodicism of “Funniest Thing,” the band seems comfortable trying on many different hats, without any of it coming off as forced, or as an identity crisis.

The album ends with a trio of songs that showcase the loud and the mellow sides of Supergrass. “La Song” could easily have fit on 1997’s In It For The Money, and it features the same jokey Elvis accent of “Seen The Light,” anchored on a jagged bass line and some interesting, computer-like sound effects. “Prophet Song” is perhaps the weakest song on the collection, only because of the excellence of the rest of the tracks. Trudging along at a mid-tempo, it follows the same meter as the chorus of Paul McCartney’s “Let ‘Em In,” and sounds as if it was a left-over throw away from the last album. Things end on a bright, mellow note, though, with the lush “Run,” which is an homage to the sound of groups like 10CC, and which ends the album on a similar note to “Mama & Papa,” the final track on the previous Supergrass album. “Run” is five minutes and twenty-eight seconds of hazy, harmonic bliss, sun-kissed harmonies, and a stoned, introspective vibe. It’s the perfect comedown from a truly wonderful album. It truly is hard to believe that anybody could even think of going to war when music this good is floating through the air.

-Neal Alpert