Life on Other Planets

(Good) Just Like Before
by: peter naldrett - uk correspondent

When the members of Supergrass quit their jobs and formed a band back in 1994, they could never have dreamed that they would be among the founding fathers of Britpop. Their success has never been that of Pulp, Oasis and Blur, but they are still around making quality music seven years later-and that’s more than can be said for many of their peers.

Life On Other Planets, their forth collection of studio tracks, is of such a delicate standard that it will have no trouble adding to the three platinum-sellers that preceded it. Life On Other Planets is grown-up Britpop, a mature and extremely varied album that will delight fans and maybe invite a few new people onto their bandwagon.

After touring for their last album (Supergrass), Supergrass decided to take it easy and boarded themselves inside a French villa where they did little but drink red wine and scoff French food for two months! But as well as indulging in French cultural treats, the seeds were also sown there for a very impressive new CD. The project grew and now Supergrass can be found as part of a blooming tree on the cover of Life On Other Planets, while a rainbow covers them and reflects the spectrum of sounds to be found inside.

The opener, "Za," and "Rush Hour Soul" are pure British rock at its best, while "Seen The Light" begins the variety with a retro rock feel complete with Elvis impersonator. "Brecon Beacons" is a neo-Ska affair describing a body being found in the Welsh hotspot, while later on "Never Done Nothing Like That Before" borrows from country, easy listening and rock to produce an incredible song which, along with the buzzin’ "Grace," are the first singles from the album. And just when you thought that you had had enough decent songs for one album, along comes the sing-a-long-able "La Song" to pump extra enthusiasm and belief into it.

Supergrass have not been considered masters of their trade and have never produced a killer album to slay the critics. But what they have done is produce albums that are very hard to criticize and very easy to listen to. Life On Other Planets is certainly another of these and expect catchy singles to match. 30-Sep-2002 9:53 PM