I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: SUPERGRASS-Diamond Hoo Ha (2008).

I’ve enjoyed Supergrass since they were young whipper-snappers on their first album I Should Coco.  It was a mix of fast catchy pop about being young and foolish.   I was even more impressed with the expanded sounds on their follow-up In It for the Money.

Their last few albums haven’t excited me as much, (hard to believe they’ve only released six) but I heard an interview with them and Matt Pinfield, and it convinced me that this one was going to be great.

I was a little disappointed at first.  The disc wasn’t quite as all over the place as Money was, in fact the first five songs were pretty straight ahead rockers (and much more rocking than their past songs would indicate).  But after listening a few times, I’ve really started to get into it.

The disc is split in half.  The first five songs are such simple, basic rockers that I was initially bored by them.  They weren’t bad per se, they just seemed too simple.  After several listens however, I’ve found them to be delightfully catchy, heavy pop rock gems.  And that the simplicity is deceptive.  They sound like long lost 70s riff rock highlights.  The title track with its oddball break of “Bite Me” was once played on Chuck (the latest TV show which is the arbiter of cool music).

The second half comes in with “The Return of Inspiration…” (which may not be the best song title to put halfway through your record, especially when the second half sounds so much different than the first).  This half is much more in keeping with Supergrass’ sillier side.

We get some funk charged stuff (“Rough Knuckles”) and some overt pop ala Mott the Hoople (“Ghost of a Friend”).  Outright silliness even rears its head (the opening of “Whiskey and Green Tea” is a march/chant complete with crazy horns), which morphs into a solid rocker).

Because their first two albums are so great, I’m not sure I can really compare this to them, but Diamond Hoo Ha has many great, fun moments; it is definitely a high point of their catalog.

[READ: March4, 2009] “Brother on Sunday”

I have read a number of works by A.M. Homes, and I really enjoyed her.  I haven’t seen anything by her in quite some time for whatever reason, so it was good to see her back.  Because of The End of Alice (concerning a pedophile) I think of her as being something of  a grisly/controversial writer (she is also tied somewhat to David Foster Wallace since The End of Alice and Infinite Jest were two very talked about books in 1996).  But after reading this piece and realizing that it was similar in tone/theme to her book  Music for Torching, I realized that she is more an observer of bad behavior, not just grisly behavior.

This story has the fairly simple construct of bad blood between two brothers.  Sam is younger and was always made to feel inferior by Roger his older but less charming brother.  There is also a history (from Sam’s point of view) of Roger stealing Sam’s friends away.  The story focuses on Sam, the plastic surgeon.  He is on vacation at the beach with his wife and their friends, and he is somewhat dissatisfied with the whole thing: these people, these vacations, the affairs that everyone seems to be having with each other and with everyone asking him if the pimples on their arms are cancerous.

Sam is also a photographer.  He is presently lounging on the beach taking snapshots of the world around him.  Roger, a dentist, is expected to arrive for his annual vacation with his brother and friends.  When Roger finally shows, he treats everyone to dinner while Sam seethes.  Things comes to a head when they are back at Sam’s house.  The conclusion is explosive and very satisfying.  And the final line brings a fantastic return to information given in the beginning of the story.

It’s an elegantly written, wholly enjoyable piece about the nouveau riche.