Diamond Hoo Ha Men
Barfly, London - January 9

You all know it's two-thirds of the 'Grass, but are they still super?
From Bowie's Ziggy through to The White Stripes' sibling/spouse schtick, we've always loved rock'n'roll's adoption of ridiculous personas. As a result, Supergrass' pose as the Diamond Hoo Ha Men can harldy claim to be the most tricksy of ideas. They're back to tiny venues showing off the delights of new album 'Diamond Hoo Ha Men' [sic] that, from the Stripsian riff of the title track to the brutal ;"Rough Knuckles', sparkle brighter than the rhinestones across the shoulderblades that spell out their pseudonyms Randy and Duke.
The highlight is Duke's segue from the 'Diamond Hoo Ha Man' riff into Michael Jackson's 'Beat It'. Suddenly you realise that Gaz Coombes/Randy is an outrageously talented guitarist, coaxing out irresistibly funky riffs from a exhilarating 'Never Done Nothing Like That Before' to a rampaging 'Lenny'.
AC/DC had it, T.Rex had it and Supergarss have it: the funk, the groove, and they inadvertently expose the current vogue fro brittle punk-funk as being largely composed of defunct (defunked?) and flaccid sexless rhythms. If, after watching a show like this, you don't love Supergrass, you area for of joy, an agent of dreariness. You may, actually, have become your parents. Already.

Anthony Thornton, NME - 26 January 2008