Music

Disappointment, anger and the evocation of the lounge, courtesy of Supergrass.

Related Content

• The Five Best Bond Themes
  November 18, 2008
• Get Lit: Paul McCartney: A Life by Peter Ames Carlin
  December 30, 2009
• Five Unfairly Underappreciated Beatles Songs
  September 10, 2009
• Art Rock: The Fab 40 Does Abbey Road at Discovery Green
  September 10, 2009
• When We Was Fab: Rocks Off's Beatles: Rock Band Night Was a Smashing Success
  September 10, 2009

More About

• Supergrass
• James Bond
• St. Petersburg
• Classical Music
• Chamber Music

Share

Once an irresistibly goofy Britpop trio with ungainly muttonchop sideburns, the guys in Supergrass have reached a point of maturity where they finally seem more interested in studying the menu than in making goo-goo eyes at the waitress. On their fifth full-length, Oxford's retro-groovers have outgrown monosyllabic teen anthems to embrace the emotional complexities of ensuing middle age: disappointment, anger and cool resolve. Prog-baiting opener "Tales of Endurance (Parts 4, 5 & 6)" eases from a lone acoustic ballad into a full-blown symphony of swirling organs and brass-accented pageantry, complete with all the king's horses and men. Equally evocative, "St. Petersburg," the album's unlikely loungecore single, employs a string quartet straight out of a James Bond soundtrack. The heart of the album, "Roxy," pays tribute to front man Gaz Coombe's late mother (along with Magical Mystery Tour-era Beatles), signifying a welcome change in direction for a band that's not only older and wiser, but a hell of a lot more compelling because of it.