Supergrass
Road to Rouen
(Parlophone)
Before the Kaiser Chiefs were even a glint in Ricky Wilson's dad's eye, there was Supergrass, three cheeky stoners from Oxford who occupied The Monkees seat of the mid-90s Britpop juggernaut. With their catchy guitar pop and witty Kinks-like lyrics they set themselves apart from the rest of the scene by having a sense of humour and great singalong tunes to boot.
Sadly, the world tired of their overtly happy-chappy rock as quickly as Britpop soured in the public's imagination and Supergrass seemed destined to peddle their never-grow-up lad rock at 90s nostalgia tours.
Then came Road to Rouen. With a title like that you'd be forgiven for expecting another set of irrepressibly joyful pub songs. But no, the hairy three-piece's fifth album is a corker, mainly because they seem to have at last decided to take things more seriously. They still trade in catchy tunes, but this time there's a maturity about them.