Coco Pops! (I Should Coco - Supergrass)

Member Name: paule23

Product:	I Should Coco - Supergrass
Date:	28/03/01 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of bouncy, real good fun!

Disadvantages: The last song!

I don't think I know of another album with such an exuberant, extravagant, fast and furious start as I Should Coco by Supergrass.

For those of you not in the know (and if not, WHY NOT!), Supergrass are a three piece band hailing from the deepest, darkest depths of Oxford and are made up by Gaz Coombs on lead and vocals, Danny Coffey on drums and Mick Quin on bass guitar.

I should Coco was their first album, and lodged itself at No.1 in the UK album chart during the long, hot summer of 1995 and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and sold nearly a million copies world-wide.

After a quick, drum stick tapping count in, (1,2, 1,2,3,4!) we are launched straight into "I'd Like to Know" with a cracking bass guitar beat in the background keeping the song moving along at a furious pace, joined by lots of la laaaaing, some hyperactive drumming and Gaz on lead and vocals.

Four minutes later and there is no let up as we move into "Caught by the Fuzz", and I think they mean the police rather than any other sort of fuzz you could think of! The power and exuberance doesn't let up, with Mick on bass going manic, with Gaz on lead guitar and Danny on drums not far behind!

Track 3 is "Mansize Rooster" and starts with a drum cymbal beat, in kick some keyboards and vocals, then after 20 seconds it all kicks off completely, another manic song that you're tapping foot can only just keep up with!

It's not until 9 minutes onto the album and we reach track 4 that things begin to settle down a little, and it's a good job it does too as I for one was getting a bit tired just listening! track 4 is "Alright", which is the track most of you will know best and has to be the seminal song of the summer of '95. If you haven't seen the video, I'd recommend it just to see the band flashing those lovely pearly teeth and messing about with those wonderful sidebu
rns! I've been growing mine for years but they still haven't reached the size of those on display in this video! It's a fun song and the most commercial on the album, and was their biggest selling single to date, a No. 2 hit in the singles chart.

A bit of the pace is lost in track 5 and 6, "Lose it" and "Lenny". Both these songs are a bit darker and not nearly as bouncy as what has gone before.

Swiftly onto track 7," Strange Ones", which has a rather atmospheric start, especially when you consider what has gone on before, with a sort of humming in the background. Things soon develop into a mixture of pacy bits and slow parts, a fast, bouncy chorus followed by a more contemplative verse with lyrics such as "I would cry for you, I would die for you" and "Are you strange enough, are you deranged enough" and has a superb ending with all the instruments playing together on a beat, boom boom boom!

"Sitting up Straight" is track 8 and everything slows with a church bells and keyboard into lulling you into a false sense of security. Everything is soon back to what has come before, with some rapid guitar playing and swiftly sung lyrics, building to a crescendo as the drums and bass guitar kick in. The song loses it somewhat with a rather dodgy guitar solo, but we're soon onto....

Track 9, "She's so loose" which is another more polished effort, a little less edgy, and that's all I've got to say about that!

And onto track 10, "We're not supposed to" Not supposed to do what I'm not so sure! I think it's about people making their own decisions, even if, as the tile says, they're not supposed to! This song has less power to it but is a very excellent track and all over in 2 minutes. Sounds like a few other activities I sometimes perform!!!

"Time" for track 11. This time the vocals
and Gaz's voice shine through, proving he really can sing and definitely hold a note. There's a great harmonica in the background. I do like a nice bit of mouth organ whenever I can get it! I'll have to learn to platy it myself one day.

You'll be pleased to know that there are only two more tracks to go! Number 12 is "Sofa (of my lethargy" which is very appropriate as I'm typing this in a very lethargic state on my sofa. It is a very relaxed song, the album is all slowed down again, maybe they were getting at bit tired by this time. There is a very mellow ending to this longest track of the album. They seem to have forgot to finish playing and just ad-libbed for two minutes.

Finally, it's "Time to Go", a very uninspired title for the last song on an album!. It's one of those cheesy goodbye tracks that bands seem to feel they have to add to the end of an album. I imagine this is ideal for playing at the end of concerts, but I wish they hadn't bothered!


Phew, finally finished, and I had promised myself I was never going to do an album review track by track, never mind! Overall the album is excellent, fairly motoring along at a rapid rate of knots throughout, full of bassy, throaty guitar playing and rather manic drumming at times. A booming but not overpowering beat pervades most of the tracks, and you'll be shattered from all that foot tapping by the time it finishes!

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