Well this nomination has come at a time when I've got full on Covid. I've been feeling very under the weather from it and whilst I'm over the worse of it, Covid will always remind me of a particular album - and what a belter it is!
I have to come back to
@GoatersLeftShin 's excellent write up, because on its own, it fired me up to listen to this album. First off, I hope you are doing better. I've been on 3 weeks of continuous travel on weekdays, and felt the need to take a Covid test after week 1 for the first time since my 2021-2 UK trip, and I was glad it was negative. My wife reminded me that the test kit had expired, but I reminded her that the good news of a negative was the timely news I needed.
The reason this album means so much to me is that it's ended up being almost the anthem of 1995 but also kind of heralded the very last night out we had too before the Covid lockdown.
On Saturday 29th Febrarury 2020 - just a few weeks before Covid changed the UK - a big group of us had tickets to go and see them over in Leeds. We were staying over and looking at the set list they were basically going to play a lot from I Should Coco and everyone was buzzing for the gig.
So my pre-pandemic story is I knew the Covid lockdown was coming (despite some in government leadership denying science), and it was after the first cruise ships and deaths in January were getting quarantined and no one was taking this seriously. I had to take a final customer trip from Feb 25-27, and I saw one TSA worker wearing a mask on the way to Memphis. On my way back, I saw over 10 travelers in the airport wearing one - shite was getting real. Since it was still winter, I took a scarf with me and used that on the plane to keep my breathing covered and aided by what I thought was the best semblance of a mask without actually having one at that point. Little did I know how used to wearing (most) all of us would be soon-after. I knew that would be my last trip for a long while, and my biggest memory of Feb 29 on the day of your gig was my middle son's 21st birthday (big in the US for being of age) being delayed by a leap day as we planned to safely go out and celebrate with him. At least we got that in an outdoor setting with nice temps before it all went down so fast.
We got to the O2 in Leeds and Supergrass came on stage and basically blasted out most of I Should Coco. I was stood there hearing these magnificent pop anthems, but I couldn't help but feel that there was something completely profound and unnerving about what I'd heard. The atmosphere was electric, partly because it was a blast from the 90s but I do think that many other people had a feeling that this was the last time they'd be able to go to a gig for a while. There was something in the air that night for sure. Funnily enough, when I heard 'The Eve of the War' the other week, it made me think that watching Supergrass in Leeds was almost like that - everyone carrying on as if there was nothing to worry about but little did we know what was about to happen.
Well described feeling and I concur on that same feeling with that song. Little did we know, even if we did. Thinking things will have to change and experiencing it were two different things.
It really is quite strange how music can do this - on the one hand I associate I Should Coco with carefree days, parties and what seemed to be one of the best summers ever. Every song just seemed so effortlessly catchy, and it was also one of many brilliant albums that year. However, it also ended up being my pre-and-in-Covid album too! I will never be able to hear this album again without thinking of these two completely opposite experiences!
Anyway, some of you will have heard it before, but if not you are in for a treat.
It's a Britpop masterpiece.
While I'm not ready to put this up with my enjoyment of
The Bends or
What's the Story (Morning Glory), this debut effort does pack a punk punch. The first two tracks come out of the gate swinging both sonically and musically and really had me thinking this album was released at least two decades earlier in punk's origins if I didn't know better.
The start of "Mansize Rooster" actually had me thinking of an Oasis tempo, nicely done. Given I've already noted I wasn't familiar with "Alright", I will admit it really is the deserved hit of the album as it changed from the punkness heard earlier to this well done hit. I doubt I'll ever get to
@BlueHammer85's numbers of hearing this song, but I doubt he'll ever hear “Who Let the Dogs Out” or "All Star" as much as I have had to either. ;-)
I can't say I heard the "Whole Lotta Love" connection musically right away in "Lenny", but the guitar from the get go was quite familiar. "Strange Ones" was indeed that, but I could also see that one being a hit with fans. Musically, "She's So Loose" works for me more than the lyrics or vocals (by this point), but it really is probably the song musically that hits the best. I didn't like the voice alterations in "We're Not Supposed To", but maybe that's just me. "Time" kinds of plods on a bit, but "Sofa" brings a nice sonic sound that helps out the second half of the album. Good choice to end things on a short acoustic feeling on "Time to Go", which also reminded me more than a bit of "Half The World Away" from
DM released the year prior. I'm sure others have noticed this too.
It's tough to judge opening band albums because we know the initial sounds are usually based on influences, and this one sounded very punk influenced. I've heard Gaz Coombes solo music a bit, which I do like, but time will tell if I enjoy his band more than his solo efforts. Right now, I'm feeling the solo a bit more. For me this lands at a
6.5 with some nice enjoyable moments, but I'm not as much into the punk background as others who will rate this higher.
