Supergrass - Road to Rouen

When Supergrass released it's excitable debut, I Should Coco a decade ago, the British trio (now a quartet) sounded so young, dumb and full-of-fun that Steven Spielberg thought they would make suitable candidates for a Monkees-style television show pairing infectious rock tunes with hilarious hi-jinks. As it turns out, the British group has followed the Monkees career path thoroughly, growing unexpectedly more somber with each of it's successive releases, trading in pop hits for plaintive retro-rock triumphs like 'Pumping on Your Stereo' and 'Moving'. True to form, Road to Rouen, the band's fifth album, opens with the gentle 'Tales of Endurance (Parts 4, 5 & 6)' and keeps the easy pace through melodic, string-filled highpoints such as 'St. Petersburg' and 'Roxy' - songs that confirm they're no longer monkeying around. "We welcome commercial suicide, " sings front man Gaz Coombe's. Capitol. 2005.

1) Tales of Endurance (Parts 45 ; 6)
2) St. Petersburg
3) Sad Girl
4) Roxy
5) Coffee in the Pot
6) Road to Rouen
7) Kick in the Teeth
8) Low C
9) Fin