Supergrass - Supergrass (1999)

Essentially, Supergrass' eponymous third album is a refined, subdued extension of In It for the Money. Where that album was a supremely confident, head-spinning musical kaleidoscope, splendidly shifting focus from track to track, Supergrass is down to earth, mellow, and unassuming. Part of the trio's charm has always been that they're unabashedly unpretentious, since their casual attitude made their considerable musical skill all the more impressive. On Supergrass, that casualness occasionally crosses the line into laziness. It doesn't happen all that often, but there are moments on the album that feel tossed-off, such as "What Went Wrong (In Your Head)" and "Beautiful People." This is particularly evident because these also-rans are surrounded by songs that are as great as anything Supergrass has ever recorded -- the harpsichord-driven, pulsing "Your Love"; the stately, sophisticated "Shotover Hill"; the gleeful absurdity of "Jesus Came From Outta Space"; or the breezy, infectious summer single "Pumping on Your Stereo." The disparity in material also hammers home the point that Supergrass doesn't quite gel, the way their first two albums did. There were no themes behind those two records, but the performances and songs shared a similar spirit. The third album is simply a collection of moments, some spectacular and some average. While that may come as a slight disappointment, since I Should Coco and In It for the Money are two of the greatest pop albums of the '90s, the songs that work on Supergrass -- and they do account for well over half the record -- confirm that the 'Grass remain one of the most gifted, irresistible guitar pop bands of their time.