Supergrass-Diamond Hoo Ha
It’s an inevitability. Every rock band starts with a bang, with an album or single full of youthful exuberance. Something fresh and exciting that seems to hover over their career. For Oxford’s Supergrass, it was the 1994 single “Caught By The Fuzz.” The teenaged trio were thrust into the media center of the Britpop movement for a bit and even managed a hit single or three during the 90s (“Alright” and “Richard III” come to mind as standouts).
Another inevitability is that bands that stick around long enough tend to grow up. Even Tom Waits, who groused “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up,” grew up. For Supergrass, it was their fifth album, Road To Rouen, that cemented their transition from exciting up and comers to “mature” rock band. Supergrass, now a quartet, were growing up inside and outside of the studio. Parents were dying, cynicism was creeping in, and an appreciation of all things slow and melodic was taking hold. And sales suffered.
Fast forward a few years to the present and we’re greeted with the band’s sixth album, Diamond Hoo Ha. While still mature, thematically and musically, Diamond Hoo Ha is a bit of return to the more youthful moments of Supergrass’ back catalog. The ghostly ballads of Road To Rouen are now accented with rockier numbers. Tracks like “Bad Blood” and “345” positively bubble with crackling guitars, screaming choruses, and the kind of T. Rex meets The Buzzcocks theatrics we’ve come to expect from Supergrass over the years.
The low-key moments on Diamond Hoo Ha, like “Outside,” seem to have more life to them than any of the tracks on Road To Rouen. And the lows and highs are broken up quite nicely when the band’s quirky side rears it’s head on tracks like oddly mid-80’s Bowie rocker “Whisky & Green Tea” (“I’ve been watching, walking, talking dogs/Doing karate moves/Oh, being chased by Chinese dragons”).
If anything, Diamond Hoo Ha plays like a greatest hits set. There are moments that remind me of tracks from each of Supergrass’ previous albums. Only, these moments are handled quite nicely without the nagging awkwardness of nostalgia. Diamond Hoo Ha is a lovely album from a band segueing into maturity with ease.
Grade: B+
