With only nine tracks to speak of and clocking in at a mere 35 minutes, (one of them, "Coffee In The Pot," being nothing more than a silly toss off of an instrumental) you'd probably assume that Road To Rouen, Supergrass's 5th proper studio album, was nothing more than a phoned in contractual obligation. But nothing could be further from the truth. Road To Rouen may just be their best album to date; it's definitely their most mature and cohesive record for sure. With Robert Coombes (lead singer Gaz's brother) now a permanent member on keyboards, Supergrass' sound is far more fleshed out than previous works, and certainly not as spastic. The T.Rex aping that dominated 2002's Life On Other Planets is gone, and in its place is a collection that, at times, could be called Beatle-esque, and two tracks can even be called something that Supergrass has never been called before: epic.

The first, "Tales Of Endurance (Parts 4, 5 & 6)" starts off as a quick little acoustic rocker before it sinks its teeth into meatier electric guitar bits about three and a half minutes in. The other epic track, "Roxy," clocks in at over six minutes (which is a lifetime compared to past Supergrass works) and blends some absolutely astounding string work with the up tempo rocking: probably the best I've heard in a rock song this year. The self-titled track has Gaz's best guitar licks here. Be prepared for a hand clapping and foot tapping frenzy when you hear it. "Kick In The Teeth" near the end of the album is the only track that older fans will find solace in, since it actually sounds the most like quintessential Supergrass. But as much as I love older Supergrass, I think this new sound fits them even better. Make sure to pronounce the album's title correctly , because the road to ruin is certainly not on the horizion for Gaz and the boys.