Recorded at Sawmills Studio, Cornwall, England.

Recording information: Sawmills Studio, Golant, Forey, Cornwall, England.

Photographer: Paul Stanley.

Tearing by at a breakneck speed, I Should Coco is a spectacularly eclectic debut by Supergrass, a trio barely out of their teens. Sure, the unbridled energy of the album illustrates that the band is young, yet what really illustrates how young the bandmembers are is how they borrow from their predecessors. Supergrass treat the Buzzcocks, the Beatles, Elton John, David Bowie, Blur, and Madness as if they were all the same thing -- they don't make any distinction between what is cool and what isn't, they just throw everything together. Consequently, the jittery "Caught by the Fuzz" slams next to the music hall rave-up "Mansize Rooster" and the trippy psychedelia of "Sofa of My Lethargy," or the heavy stomp of "Lenny" or the bona fide teen anthem "Alright." I Should Coco is the sound of adolescence, but performed with a surprising musical versatility that makes the record's exuberant energy all the more infectious. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The songs on I SHOULD COCO play like missing pieces of the Buzzcocks' SINGLES GOING STEADY, HUNKY DORY-era Bowie, and when the Stones still existed BETWEEN THE BUTTONS. At the same time, Supergrass fit perfectly into the very retro "punk" tastes of the mid-'90s charts, and make it all seem exciting again.

Combining breathless pop-rock with an ebullient and glamorous sense of humor, Supergrass are nervy and fun. "I'd Like To Know" and "Caught By The Fuzz" show off Supergrass' undeniably British sensibilities (the chirping Cockney harmonies, the acoustic piano, the topsy-turvy bass lines), but it all works. The album is a rare breed--one that plays like an old favorite, but isn't an exercise in redundancy or nostalgia.

I SHOULD COCO isn't a painful reminder of eras gone by, but an adoring school-boy homage--exactly the one that Supergrass plays up to. Because anything too serious might ruin a good time.