Life’s a gas
3 Their last album was an attempt at
maturity, but SUPERGRASS have finally remembered what age they are and are releasing a single called 'Pumping On Your Stereo'.
nerds. Sarah Dempster
Some things in life are. according to pop prophets Steps. better best l‘orgotten. The tykes may just have a point. 'l'ake Britpop. for example. It was an open imitation lot‘ any no-b liner with a guitar and a pair ol' \intage Adidas to get jiggy with their dad's colmeb-strewn record collection. Remember Menswear”? lixactly Britpop was. and is. a blistering barnacle on music's blushing. battle-scarred behind.
So what ol' Supergrass. the ()xl'ord pop dons who lirst appeared in l‘N-l'.’ 'l‘heir ’:\|right‘ was a tnid 90s anthem to rank alongside Pulp‘s ‘(‘ommon People’. Blur"s ‘Parklil'e' and ()as‘is‘ ‘\\'onderwa||'. The yideo. which locused on their space-hopper grins and lycanthropic charm. perl‘ectly encapsulated Britpop's cartooniin muse and threatened to turn these accomplished songwriters into caricatures.
‘Britpop was always a bit or a problem.‘ concedes bass player Micky Quinn. who. at a near-pensionable 38. is the grandaddy ol' the group. ‘lt meant that eyeryone was trying to be light-hearted. We were a bit worried about how much musical respect we were getting and whether people just thought we were some sort ol perl‘orming monkeys. But. really. who cares‘.’ You should do what you‘re happiest doing. We write songs that make its laugh. It keeps us entertained. at lettst.'
Supergrass are currently keeping lhemselyes
56 THE LIST ,liri ll Lia; 199?)
'We were worried that people thought we were performing monkeys. But, who cares? We write songs that make us laugh.’ Micky Quinn
Fart of noise: Supergrass
entertained with forthcoming single. ‘Pumping On Your Stereo‘. a preposterously sprightly mix ol~ Elvis Costello. Dayid Bowie circa 'Rebel Rebel' and Iggy Pop. It looks set to take the hand back into the top ten. haying already lound two l'ans in Quinn‘s two daughters. Daisy t-ll and limin (7) are giyen to running around the room wheneyer they hear the record. Alter the l‘)‘)7 III II For T/lt' Money album‘s game grab tor a more mature. emotionally resonant sound. ‘Pumping . ’ is a firm nod backwards to the buccaneer /.est ol‘ their lirst album / Slum/(l ('ocn. (‘ould this mean a return to the youthl'ul exuberance
of their debut single. ‘C‘aught By The Fuzz"?
‘I heard “lat/.7." tor the first time in ages the other
day. actually.‘ muses Quinn. ‘It made me realise what a good song it was. We couldn’t write in that way anymore. though. We’re just too old now.‘
Veterans in their twenties. Supergrass have started exploring side-projects at an age when many bands are getting round to releasing their first album. Drummer Danny (iol’l‘ey played drums for both Lodger and Ash. while Quinn and l’rontman Gar. (‘oombes played with blues legend Dr. John on his xi/lllf/Iu Zone album which also l‘eatured contributions ll'tllil Paul Weller and Spiritualized's Jason Pierce.
'Dr .lohn was brilliant.‘ says Quinn. 'l-le was a bit quiet. but he carries his \oodoo walking stick eyeryw here with him. it‘s dead scary.‘
Next on the Supergrass agenda is a short tour. including a (ilas‘gow date. and the release ot' their third album. It's untitled at the moment. although (iolley has suggested that it's going to be called (be/red.
‘We all took a lot more time oyer this than the last album.‘ says Quinn. ‘Some ol' the stull is quite mad actually. but none or it was planned. It was all quite spontaneous.
Supergrass play Barrowland, Glasgow, Wed 12 May. ’Pumping On Your Stereo' is released on Parlophone, Mon 24 May. An album follows in September.
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TWO LOCAL BANDS will benefit from the latest high-tech production facilities thanks to a battle of the bands competition organised by The List, Radio Scotland's Beat Patrol programme and the recording studio Jam Factor A. The Newtown Grunts and Cinéfilm, the two bands whose demo tapes were judged to be the best, will get free recording
time at Jam Factor A’s Perthshire
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Studios. The music they record will be aired on Beat Patrol, and they will play a gig at Glasgow’s 13th Note Club on Sun 2 May. See rock and pop listings, page 42.
STEREOPHONICS are confirmed for T in the Park. Officially referred to as co-headliners, they will play before Blur on Sat 10 Jul. For T in the Park ticket details, see Book Now, page 47.
THE TREND FOR bands contributing songs to video games continues apace in Scotland. Hot on the heels of Garbage, whose music can be heard on the racing game Gran Turismo, Glaswegian guitar-abusers Mogwai appear on the soundtrack to Actua Ice Hockey 2. Gremlin Interactive, the publishers of the game, have selected ‘Like Herod’ and the DJ Q mix of ’R U Still Into It’. You can even choose to play as Mogwai Young Team, with likenesses of the band, on the PC version of the game.
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN consolidated
3 their position as the wussiest band
in Britain by getting knocked out in the first round of a S-a-side football tournament at last weekend's Bowlie Weekender festival in Camber Sands. Still, 8&5 bass player Stuart David's Looper side-project made it into the final despite the fact that no actual members of Looper were in the team. Stranger still, Looper were actually on stage while the match was played.
I Teenage Fanclub, who had strips
specially made for the event, were plunged into an early bath by Vic Godard's team. ’It was like Hamilton Accies putting out Rangers,’ commented a spokesman for Godard's label Creeping Bent.
Stereophonics