Supergrass - Road to Rouen

Genre rock Publisher Capitol Records External Links Official Website Capitol Records

Supergrass's latest album Road to Rouen could be called inconsistent at best. Opening the album with "Tales of Endurance (Parts 4, 5 & 6)," the band kicks off the album with a quirky track that sets a random tone for the rest of the album.

"Tales of Endurance (Parts 4, 5 & 6)," a pretentious name for a song as is its predecessor, here this jumbled track doesn't live up to its name. Twangy opening chords evoke the image of tumbleweeds while the harder ending shows the bands roots in 90s rock.

The edge that endures at the end of the track doesn't continue through the rest of the album, save for "Roxy" which lives up to the infamous club's name. The sound is more modern rock evoking The Strokes or The Hives, bursting with raucous harmonies. The song then segues into a more progressive rock sound with soothing strings and orchestration, before piping back up with the clanging guitars.

While some tracks shine, others fall by the wayside, not reaching their intended mark. "St. Petersburg" is jazzy and low-key, much more stripped down than the other fare. While "Sad Girl" is trippy and whimsical, but "Kick in the Teeth" brings it back to that large rock sound that works for the band.

On their road to ruin, Supergrass ends this mangled "road" of an album with "Fin," which sounds more like a Nature Store album than old school rock and roll. Maybe they should have kept it in the 1990s.