Record Rebound: Supergrass reissue their 2002 album, ‘Life on Other Planets’
In 1995, at the height of the so-called Britpop wave, Oxford group Supergrass released their seminal debut album, I Should Coco. Buoyed by stand-out hits like ‘Caught by the Fuzz’, ‘Alright’, ‘Lenny’ and ‘She’s So Loose’, the record attained the distinction as the best-selling debut album released on Parlophone since The Beatles’ Please Please Me. The allure of Supergrass’ debut would indeed be difficult to top, but the band weren’t inclined to rest on their laurels.
Closing the decade out with In It for the Money and Supergrass, the band proved themselves accomplished musicians capable of complex arrangements. A generation-defining debut will always be hard to eclipse, but Supergrass impressively continued to refine their musicality into the new millennium to rapturous effect.
The band released its fourth album, Life on Other Planets, in September 2002, sating a wolfish appetite among devoted fans following a three-year drought. Supergrass’ eponymous album of 1999 was critically lauded as a bold step into the aforementioned refinement. Still, the band was concerned that it had alienated some fans pining for the urgency of its preceding releases.
Attempting to sideline the protracted, swirling neo-psychedelia of Supergrass, the group hired producer Tony Hoffer to helm the Life on Other Planets sessions. “He helped us keep the takes quite short and sweet”, drummer Danny Goffey once told MTV. “We really didn’t mess around because he kept us moving. If we had done it on our own again, we’d just get really analytical and start crying and trying to mend things that weren’t broken”.
Although hits from the 1999 record, such as ‘Mary’, ‘Moving’ and ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’, aren’t what most would describe as lengthy or arduous listens, Goffey’s sentiment is immediately apparent upon listening to Life on Other Planets’ power pop cache.
Keeping the rhythm section as tight as possible, Life on Other Planets flies through 12 tracks in 40 minutes. As the album title might suggest, Supergrass returned to their roots in classic rock, especially that of David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Contrary to ‘Life on Mars’, however, was the notable injection of pace and lyrical abandon.
Reprising the poetic humour of I Should Coco with the musical virility of their latter albums, Supergrass arrived at a pleasing sound fit for the radio. In its most memorable moments, including ‘Seen the Light’ and ‘Grace’, frontman Gaz Coombes channels his inner Bolan while thrashing rhythm guitar progressions harken back to heavy glam stylings of the mid-1970s.
Although the album maintains pace with short, choppy tracks, it benefits from the breakwater of musical variation and subdued tones. ‘Prophet 15’ and ‘Run’ arrive at the album’s close to offer a more severe tone to counter the album’s otherwise playful tone; the latter breaks the rules entirely as it drones in psychedelic splendour for over five minutes.
So, why have I dredged this oft-overlooked early 2000s gem to your attention? On August 25th, Supergrass reissue Life on Other Planets with some exciting bonus features. The reissue will be available on black or white vinyl and in a three-CD box set. You can pre-order the deluxe expanded edition here for £34.99.
Listen to ‘The Loner’ below. The Neil Young cover was released in 2003 as the B-side to ‘Seen The Light’ and will appear on the expanded reissue.
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