"Supergrass" review

You can't always make huge leaps between albums.
Expecting Supergrass to have shifted as much ground for this third album as occurred between the bratty pop of debut I Should Coco and the complex and defiantly pop/rock In It For The Money is unfair.
This one is in some ways a consolidation of the early 70's influences of In It For The Money, broadening out the pre-punk songcraft so that there's an almost eerie sense of Gerry Rafferty just hanging out in the next room.
It's good, that can't be denied - each time it's played it feels comfortable, the songs slide in neatly. But it's not exciting or memorable - there's no sense of recall of particular hooks or lines even by the ninth or 10th listen.
Moving, the current single, is probably the best example of this. Its construction is multilayered, the chorus arriving like a train switching tracks suddenly, and it is impressive.
But can you hum it later?
3/5

Bernard Zuel, Sydney Morning Herald - 15 October 1999