Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha

Artist: Supergrass

Title: Diamond Hoo Ha

Label: EMI

Rating: 7/10

Corporate line:
Recorded in Berlin’s legendary Hansa studios over a 3 week period with producer Nick Launay (Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) Diamond Hoo Ha captures the energy and enthusiasm of a band firing on all cylinders, none more evident than on opening track Diamond Hoo Ha Man (released as a limited edition 7″ in January and achieving single of the week status in NME and The Fly). To quote one review, “the beefy, stomporific riffs are back on board”. A notable departure from 2005’s more pastoral and reflective (yet still critically acclaimed) Road To Rouen, Diamond Hoo Ha features a handful of rocking tracks debuted last summer when Supergrass were hand-picked as main support for the Arctic Monkeys at their Old Trafford shows. Tracks such as Rough Knuckles and future singles Bad Blood and Rebel In You are welcome additions to the band’s already impressive cannon of classic songs like Caught By the Fuzz, Richard III, Moving and Pumping On Your Stereo. 13 years into their career and with 5 albums and a Best Of already under their belts, Gaz, Danny, Mick and Rob are sounding fresher than ever. Since finishing the album the band have played 2 Christmas homecoming shows at Oxford Town Hall, as well as the XFM Winter Wonderland show at Brixton Academy with Bloc Party. Not to mention a series of “hush hush” club dates from Gaz and Danny under the not-so-secret identity of the Diamond Hoo Ha Men.

Best cuts:
“Diamond Hoo Ha” – Supergrass have found their inner-rock Gods.
“345” – As much of an all out assault as Supergrass could ever bring.
“Ghost of a Friend” – If ever there was a song that was going to steal your sanity with its super-delicious hook this is it.

The rest:
“Bad Blood” – This definitely doesn’t sound like Supergrass. It’s hard to tell whether that is a good or bad thing.
“Butterfly” – A song that tries really hard to be epic. Not that it couldn’t have gotten there–it was close.

Finally:
Supergrass keeps changing their flavor but not to make you or I happy. You can tell they are enjoying what they are doing more than ever. Unfortunately they haven’t quite pulled off the biggest upset in history like Muse who did the unbelievable with their epic record. Supergrass will keep plugging away hoping they can get to the level of Radiohead, Oasis or Muse.