Tag Archives: supergrass

My iPod #402: Supergrass – Funniest Thing

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“Funniest Thing” is an album track from Supergrass’ first release of the 21st century, “Life on Other Planets”. Of course, Britpop was well and truly over at this point, and Supergrass carried on exploring new sounds just as they had with “In It for the Money” in ’97.

On “LOOP”, some tracks are very guitar-heavy and give off a great hard-rock feel bordering on T-Rex territory at some points. But they still have that fun Supergrass attitude to them, and their then-recent acquisition as Rob Coombes as permanent member seemed to give the group an even bigger dynamic then they had before.

“Funniest Thing” begins with a mysterious keyboard line backed with sighing backing vocals and shimmering ride cymbals which give quite a psychedelic feel to it all. This all changes when the whole band kick into gear for the chorus; Gaz Coombes sings about seeing all these weird things happening around him, and even though this event is the ‘funniest thing [he sees]’… it is still a bit too hard to bear.

I’m thinking the lyrics are meant to be from the perspective of someone in a hospital after breaking a part of the body, who is then given morphine to relieve the pain and ends up having all these weird hallucinations because of it. That’s just from the lyrics though. Could be about something else completely. It probably is.

‘F’ section ends tomorrow.

My iPod #332: Supergrass – Evening of the Day

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While being a fantastic bass player, probably one of the most underrated during the Britpop era, Mick Quinn of Supergrass was also a decent singer. He did occasionally take on lead vocal duties on many Supergrass songs such as “You Can See Me” and “Sometimes I Make You Sad” from “In It for the Money“, “Beautiful People” and co-lead vocals on “Mary” from their self-titled album. But it is on the 2002 album “Life on Other Planets” where fans get to hear a lot more of his singing, as he takes on lead vocals on four of the twelve songs on there including today’s track “Evening of the Day”. I asked the man himself if he did take the lead on this one, thinking that he wouldn’t reply……. and to my surprise he did only a few hours later.

Positioned right in the middle of the album, “Evening” begins with some smooth bass and piano. Sounds really laidback, and cool. There’s a very lounge-y/jazzy tone about it all. Quinn enters with his lower register vocal (which is what got me confused about who was singing it in the first place) and goes on to sing about how, during the evening of the day, he waits somewhere (possibly a location of a high altitude) for a person who is very important to him. While he looks at the view, all he can think about is that person. The song’s chorus is a line from a Spinal Tap track “All the Way Home” which is as follows: “If she’s not on that 3:15, then I’m gonna know what sorrow means.”

It is at 3:15 of “Evening of the Day” when what I have described to you above finishes in a minor and rather messy fashion. I can’t tell whether it was supposed to be a different song altogether and the band decided combine it with the first three minutes or if it was all planned. But in this particular part, the band members sing about someone being stoned and not knowing what they’re talking about. Whether they’re referring to the ‘narrator’ of the first part of the song, I’m not sure, but it does bring a light and comedic end to a very good song.

My iPod #179: Supergrass – Cheapskate

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This is one of my favourite songs by Supergrass. It is one of my favourites from “In It for the Money”. The only problem I have with it is that compared to other songs on the album, it is too short. It is probably for the best though.

I am very sure that “Cheapskate” was in a holiday advert from years and years ago that was on the television. I know it has been used in a film or two, but I am certain I remember it being played for about 30 seconds somewhere else…

The music video was never shown in the United Kingdom. It was a US only single though and got into one of the many music charts that the country has. The band also chose not to release the video on their ‘best of’ DVD for reasons unknown.

The opportunity for me to see the ‘lost’ Cheapskate video was back when I was twelve or so. I randomly searched ‘Supergrass – Cheapskate’ into YouTube, and to my surprise it was there. The version here is what I watched, and is quite different to the one above. The speakers for the family computer were busted, so I had to make do with opening iTunes and playing the song along with the video. A minor inconvenience, yes, but it all worked out well in the end.

But why do I like “Cheapskate” so much? Well the song starts off with this funky groove, apparently influenced by Kool & the Gang according to the band themselves, which carries on through the verses before launching into an atmospheric chorus where the guitar blares out its chords and the overall volume of the song just rises. That along with its lyrics, “I need someone to be around ‘cos I’m breaking into life/Somebody stop me, ‘cos I’m looking for my high.”, just makes me feel warm and very happy inside.

What is the song about? Haven’t got a clue. Why is it called “Cheapskate”? The word isn’t mentioned once in the lyrics, so your guess is as good as mine. What matters is, I like it, you should probably listen to it, and try and find that advert that I talked about because it is really bugging me just thinking about it.

My iPod #170: Supergrass – Caught by the Fuzz

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Supergrass’ first official single as a band. Sounding like it was recorded in a few minutes in cramped and compact room, “Caught by the Fuzz” is an autobiographical account of lead singer Gaz Coombe’s first time of being arrested by the police when he was only 15.

The song is very quick. Quite punk-esque, with a semi-talking verse and a belter of a chorus which all end with the word ‘tonight’. Well, it’s not really a chorus. But if you listen to it, you will understand what I mean.

The film “Hot Fuzz” has this track playing during the credits, so if you wanted to know what that song was called…. here it is.

It is the second song on the band’s first album “I Should Coco“, a bit of Cockney rhyming slang for those of you who aren’t familiar.

My iPod #160: Supergrass – Can’t Get Up

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Sorry there was no post yesterday. I was out. But the place I went to was not very lively; there was no atmosphere. It was kind of a waste of time.

This is the first post out of two to make up for it.

My cousin bought me “Life on Other Planets” for my fourteenth birthday. I had been a fan of Supergrass for about three years at that time, and already owned “In It for the Money” and the self titled album. My new found liking for the song “Grace” also played a large role in me wanting the album.

When the chorus for “Can’t Get Up” started, I found myself humming along to the melody even though I’d never really heard the full thing before. I was pretty sure that it was in advert that was on the television a long time ago. I have no recollection of what that advert is, but somehow the song managed to stay in my head.

I was also left unsure as to who the lead vocalist of the song was. For a while I did think it was bassist Mick Quinn, who sings lead on “Sometimes I Make You Sad” and “Beautiful People”, but it is Gaz Coombes if you can tell the differences between their voices.

For me, this definitely could have been a single. But what do I know, I am not even a proper critic.

Jamie.