Supergrass
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Supergrass is an indie rock and Britpop band from Oxford, UK. Currently the band consists of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes, Danny Goffey, and Mick Quinn. Like many other British bands of the '90s, Supergrass' musical roots lie in the infectiously catchy punk-pop of the Buzzcocks and the Jam, as well as the post-punk pop of Madness, the traditional Mod Rock of the Kinks and Small Faces and the glam-rock of T. Rex.
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Biography
Emerging from Oxford in the early 1990s Supergrass were formed out of the ashes of indie underage underachievers The Jennifers. While most other people their age were in bed at a sensible time in their jim-jams Supergrass members Gaz and Danny were becoming faces on the Oxford indie music scene.
Perhaps because of their age — two of the trio were still in their teens when they recorded their debut single — the band also brings in elements of decidedly unhip groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. With youthful enthusiasm, Supergrass tied all of their influences together in new surprising ways, where a Buzzcocks riff could slam into three-part harmonies out of "Crocodile Rock," or have a galloping music hall rhythm stutter like the best moments of the Who, including traits from the common pop-punk era, characterized with fast, three-chord guitar based and catchy tunes, found in then-contemporaries blink-182 and Green Day.
The band released their first single, the semiautobiographical "Caught by the Fuzz," in the summer of 1994 on the indie label Backbeat; Parlophone signed them and reissued the single in the fall of the year. "Caught by the Fuzz" generated a significant amount of buzz, including praise from Blur and Elastica. "Mansize Rooster," the group's second single, was released in the spring of 1995. It reached the top 20 in the UK Singles Chart, as did "Lenny," which was released right before their debut album, I Should Coco.
I Should Coco (1995) was warmly greeted in U.K. and debuted at the Top Ten. The band's popularity continued to grow, leading to the number two double A-sided single, "Alright"/"Time". After staying in Top Three for a month, the single pushed the album to number one. I Should Coco was released in the U.S. three months later. A buzz began to build there as "Caught by the Fuzz" began receiving MTV and radio play. The acclaimed In It For The Money followed in 1997, and in 1999 the band issued their eponymous third LP, Supergrass, which received a belated American release the following spring.
Three years later the band resurfaced with the acclaimed Life On Other Planets, which gathered very positive reviews and was received warmly in both sides of the Atlantic. In a similar pattern-release like last two albums, they are readying their fifth album, Road to Rouen, due for release in August, 2005. According to the band it will have a 'funkier' sound than previous albums. Interestingly, fellow Britpop contemporaries Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and possibly Pulp have all been readying new albums.
Early 2005 saw Supergrass take a different turn when lurid stories involving drummer Danny Goffey saw him embroiled in a wife-swapping mish-mash involving him and his wife, Pearl Lowe and the formerly married Jude Law and Sadie Frost.
Discography
Studio albums
- I Should Coco - (1995) #1 UK
- In It For The Money (1997) - #2 UK
- Supergrass - (1999) #3 UK
- Life On Other Planets - (2002) #9 UK, #195 US
- Road to Rouen - (2005)
Compilations
- Supergrass Is 10 (2004) #4 UK
Hit singles
Chart positions are for the UK, they have had no charting singles in the USA.
- from I Should Coco
- 1994 "Caught By The Fuzz" #43
- 1995 "Mansize Rooster" #20
- 1995 "Lenny" #10
- 1995 "Alright/Time" #2
- from In It for the Money
- 1996 "Going Out" #5
- 1997 "Richard III" #2
- 1997 "Sun Hits the Sky" #10
- 1997 "Late in the Day" #18
- from Supergrass
- 1999 "Pumping on Your Stereo" #11
- 1999 "Moving" #9
- 1999 "Mary" #36
- from Life on Other Planets
- 2002 "Grace" #13
- 2003 "Seen the Light" #22
- 2003 "Rush Hour Soul" #59
- from Supergrass is 10
- 2004 "Kiss of Life" #23
Trivia
"Supergrass and Rob Coombes"
For the band's first three albums, Supergrass officially consisted of Gaz Coombes, Goffey and Quinn although Rob Coombes contributed to many of the band's songs and toured with them. Rob Coombes did not officially "join" the band until the fourth album and so tracks recorded before then were often credited to "Supergrass and Rob Coombes".