SUPERGRASS
Alright
EMI TOCP-8631

A mish mash of singles, B-sides and live tracks compiled for the Japanese market, Alright prove a lot more entertaining than it's stopgap status would suggest, chiefly because it has the three key Supergrass qualities - great pop songs (Lenny, Strange Ones); energetic yet firmly accomplished live performances (their version of the Kinks' Where Have All The Good Times Gone here recalling the youthful insistence of the original) and a dry humour that smirkingly sews the whole lot together. Of the tracks which have already accompanied their single releases, Je Suis Votre Papa Sucre has a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek Parisian swing, Wait For The Sun has a dreamy languid feel with gently-strummed acoustic guitars and multi-layered harmonies, and Sex!, their country-styled hoe-down parody, features the most ridiculously wry lyrics of their career thus far.
4/5

Tom Doyle, Q - February 1996