Supergrass were the most buoyant of Britpop bands, three cheeky scamps from Oxford whose classic 1995 debut album I Should Coco combined 60s pop melodicism, frenetic garage-punk and indie anthems. After this initial fuzzy burst, their records became more explorative and grown-up, their songs veering from big summery singalongs (Going Out, Alright, Pumping On Your Stereo, Grace, Diamond Hoo Ha Men, Moving (well, the chorus anyway)) to Kinks-y ballads (Late In The Day, When I Needed You, St. Petersburg, Moving (well, the verse anyway)) to glammy guitar-pop (Rush Hour Soul, Bad Blood, Cheapskate, Seen The Light). Whatever sound they made, though, you knew you were going to have a good time with Supergrass, their songs steeped in a sort of joyous recklessness that will no doubt be the ecstatic vibe when they tour in support of I Should Coco’s 30th anniversary in a few months.
But there was a time when the spark went out for Gaz Coombes, Danny Goffey, Mick Quinn and Gaz's keyboardist brother Rob. In the wake of their 2008 sixth studio album Diamond Hoo Ha Men, a return to up’n’at’em rock’n’roll after the introspective Road To Rouen, the quartet got to work on a record that was to-be-titled Release The Drones. It would’ve represented a fresh start of sorts for the band, with a new record deal in the pipeline after they’d parted ways with their long-term label Parlophone. But, despite being close to completion, Release The Drones was never finished and remains on a shelf somewhere. Instead, Supergrass announced they were splitting up and, after a farewell tour in 2010, that’s exactly what they did (until reuniting nine years later, of course).
