Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha
I feel this could be the quickest review I ever write because I think both you and I know exactly what is going to be in it.
This is a decent-enough record, rockier than Road to Rouen, but basically the only reason I bought it is because I so loved In it For the Money, I Should Coco and, to a slightly lesser extent, their self-titled album from 2000.
Basically, Supergrass’s better days are long since behind them and although I have plenty of respect for the fact that they seem to be challenging themselves and approaching each album a little differently, I am afraid that, as far as my ears are concerned anyway, their capacity for writing consistently infectious tunes has quite simply been used up.
There are a couple of decent tracks on this, which I am going to post, but does anyone else who’s heard this think that they’ve started to sound just a little bit like Stereophonics*?
Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha Man
Supergrass – Rebel in You
*Just in case you have no taste whatsoever, this is an incredibly bad thing. But no-one who would need that pointing out to them could be reading this could they? Could they?
Stereofuckingphonics?! How dare you sully those beloved Welsh heroes with even so much as a glance in the direction of that Oxford The Supergrass band.
I’m kidding & I know exactly what you mean. Saying that, you didn’t like their debut that much? What kind of fucking ear-clogging secondary education did you have Toad? Granted, it’s not a classic in the same sense that Word Gets Around is a classic (I’M JOKING!) but it does have more than a handful of cracking tunes on it to rival Oasis’ ‘breakthrough’ debut.
This isn’t the best thing they’ve done by any means & I think In It For The Money almost their creative peak. I bought the Supergrass is 10 DVD . or whatever it was called, & was struck by how much of a ‘group’ they seemed (as opposed to a handful of musicians who happen to be walking in the same direction) – I think this may be where & how the (wrong word, but it feels right in my head) complacency has set in; I think they’re too comfortable within their dynamic & have just slowly morphed into, as you say, a kind of Steroephonic ‘that’ll do’ band.
Let’s get ready to rummmmmmble! The Toad versus Mr. Ed (with his tag team partner, that local fellow in the photograph – not that he’ll be much help now, will he?)
Mr Toad attacks with his special move, The Musical Taste Thump, before Mr. Ed counters with his Mainstream Snobbery Spin.
matthew, this cack sounds like lenny fucking kravitz. i didnt mind supergrass but i think it’s best to look away now cos they are surely treading some serious water with this material….. its made my computer feel all dirty. oh no, hold on, it is already dirty cos its full of porno.
Whose debut should I have liked, DC? Stereophonics? I think not, old chap, I think not. He has a voice made for karaoke. I definitely agree about In it For the Money though – brilliant, and yet to bettered by them and many other bands I could name.
Thank you Beardwrestler, I’d rather you had porn, frankly.
Gav – I know what you mean about the anti-mainstream snobbery thing, and I am very aware of it when I listen to albums by well-established bands these days, but I just don’t think there’s anything to this at all. It’ll get radio play and sales and plenty of marketing budget but I just don’t think it deserves it at all.
I was kidding when I said the Stereophonics you fucking music racist.
P
O, I don’t know. My mind ain’t where it should be right now & so I can’t recall a blistering debut to compare it with. But you get what I mean, I know you do. Stop being a tease.
Hey… I feel like a music snob everytime I’m in a car with a friend who is tuned in to Radio One or the like. I don’t want to moan and twine, ‘cos I know they’ve heard it all before, but I can’t help it.
I think there are labels out there releasing great stuff who are selling decent amounts. But you couldn’t call bands on Merge, for example, mainstream.
I’m sitting here thinking of bands I enjoy that could be classed as ‘mainstream’. Come on, I don’t want to be labelled as pretentious. Yeah, I can like chart music!
Got it! Rilo Kiley! Don’t get bigger than Warner Bros.!
[...] is supposed to be a record of my thoughts on music, and I was genuinely interested to hear the new Supergrass and REM, and really excited to hear The Raconteurs and Elbow so why do I feel so flat after writing [...]
Ah, I see after a small post on the Stereophonics on how they went downhill Gav is trying to stir things up. Want to hear new supergrass LP, but like you Mattghew suspect it’s because I loved the early stuff.
And yes, Stereophonics are fairly dull, it’s just that I liked Dakota and the first album…but the rest is fairly boring.
Well i find it interesting you’ve put two of the blandest songs up for download here. Diamond Hoo Ha Man is simply a radio friendly tune based on jack whites style and rebel in you in a never get out of 2nd gear rocker. 345 is a top supergrass track as are the final 3-4 on the album, with Butterfly being a standout. Sure its not 11tracks of goodness but this is their final album on the current EMI contract n its clear they’ve been asked to radio-friendly it up after Road to Rouen. But thanks for your uninformed review anyway.
I mean look at that cover! its a disgrace.
Uninformed review – heh heh heh. Aye, cheers Will, much appreciated that you could take time out from your busy schedule to pop by and bring the full weight of your colossal knowledge to bear on this lightweight prawn cracker of a review.
In other news, this album is still shit, whatever wonderfully contrived excuses you have managed to find to justify the mediocrity.
Supergrass are the only band worth bothering with these days. Bands change, get used to it. If In It For The Money hadn’t been the album it was, Supergrass wouldn’t be around now – buried next to Sleeper, Echobelly and the like. They’re the best british band after the Beatles! You’ll all be saying it in years to come… Pretending that you always did “get” them. Diamond Hoo Ha is fantastic. Very urgent, bright and sexy. A million miles away from Road To Rouen… And the next album will be a million miles away from this one.