★ 英国Brit Pop全盛时期牛津代表乐队，第6张四人闪亮亮阵容创作专辑

★ The Music Magazine 9/10高分推崇；Uncut★★★★推荐；英国专辑金榜#19

☆ 传奇制作人Nick Launay (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, Gang of Four, Grinderman, Silverchair, Lou Reed)操刀监制

进入21世纪后，乐坛生态产生剧烈变化，平均年龄未满20岁的年轻乐队如雨后春笋般冒出头来，而未成年的天才唱作人亦是俯拾皆是，NME更曾经以“Teenage Riot 2007”为主题，介绍多组平均年龄14岁左右的青少年乐队，其中甚至不乏小学生组合。辜且不论这群“国家未来栋樑”的发展潜力，我们在此不妨先行回顾过去所谓的“初生之犊”与“明日之星”。要说到英国乐坛少年得志的代表乐队，相信大家都不会漏掉Supergrass这组牛津乐团。1995年正值Brit Pop全盛时期，当时Supergrass在Oasis与Blur混战的烟硝中，以三个毛头小子青春无敌的姿态出线，以处男专辑坐上全英专辑榜冠军宝座。乐队主唱Gaz Coombes，其实早在14岁时便与朋友共组一个名为The Jennifers的乐团，虽然曾获知名独立厂牌青睐，最后却还是免不了走上解散一途。但他却与鼓手Danny Goffey约定好，将儘快筹组新团，随后在贝斯手Mick Quinn加入后，他们才以三人阵容成立Supergrass。而当他们与唱片公司签约时，当时尚未满18岁的Gaz，还有劳母亲以法定代理人的身份出面签名确认。1994年他们由小型独立厂牌发行的首支单曲〈Caught By The Fuzz〉，先是获得音乐教父John Peel强力播放与推荐，并同时获得NME及Melody Maker选为“当週最佳单曲”。稍后发行的首张专辑《I Should Coco》除了成为全英冠军，也横扫各大颁奖典礼与年终榜单，Supergrass这个名字，在当时无非是“英雄出少年”的最佳例证。

在1997年、1999年、2002年及2005年Supergrass陆续推出《In It for the Money》、《Supergrass》、《Life on Other Planets》与《Road To Rouen》等4张专辑，每次出辑都成功缔造Top 10的优异成绩。最难能可贵的是，Supergrass总是不断探索乐队本身极限，不停涉足全新的音乐领域。过去Gaz的亲哥哥Rob Coombes数度以键盘手的身份，参与Supergrass的巡迴演出行程，并提供乐队创作上的协助，不过直至2002年他才正式成为乐队的固定班底。本张全新创作专辑《DIAMOND HOO HA》，是乐队第6张创作大碟，于2007年1月到11月间，分别在柏林与纽约两地录制，他们在柏林选用的Hansa Tonstudio录音室，正是过去摇滚变色龙David Bowie录制经典专辑《Heroes》的地点，此外最让人期待的莫过于，Supergrass本张新作交由传奇制作人Nick Launay (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, Gang of Four, Grinderman, Silverchair, Lou Reed)操刀监制。专辑开场单曲〈Diamond Hoo Ha Man〉有著他们过去少见的蓝调色彩；〈Bad Blood〉重现他们早期狂躁却悦耳的独特风格；〈Rebel In You〉、〈345〉与〈Butterfly〉等歌曲，不论在唱腔与编曲上都不难见到David Bowie早期作品的影子；〈The Return Of...〉中，Gaz的唱腔竟然与纽约乐队The Strokes颇为神似；〈Whisky & Green Tea〉与〈Outside〉则是Brit Pop的强化进阶版，在爽朗的旋律之外还有精妙的编曲安排。13年前Supergrass以《I Should Coco》震撼英国乐坛，中国台湾也以“超级幼苗”这个贴切译名，将他们引荐给中国台湾地区的乐迷，今天他们则以《DIAMOND HOO HA》证明，幼苗已长成茁壮大树，虽然乐坛已经历多次改朝换代，他们却始终屹立不摇！

Recorded in Berlin's legendary Hansa studios over a 3 week period with producer Nick Launay (Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) Diamond Hoo Ha captures the energy and enthusiasm of a band firing on all cylinders, none more evident than on opening track Diamond Hoo Ha Man (released as a limited edition 7" in January and achieving single of the week status in NME and The Fly). To quote one review, "the beefy, stomporific riffs are back on board". A notable departure from 2005's more pastoral and reflective (yet still critically acclaimed) Road To Rouen, Diamond Hoo Ha features a handful of rocking tracks debuted last summer when Supergrass were hand-picked as main support for the Arctic Monkeys at their Old Trafford shows. Tracks such as Rough Knuckles and future singles Bad Blood and Rebel In You are welcome additions to the band's already impressive cannon of classic songs like Caught By the Fuzz, Richard III, Moving and Pumping On Your Stereo. 13 years into their career and with 5 albums and a Best Of already under their belts, Gaz, Danny, Mick and Rob are sounding fresher than ever. Since finishing the album the band have played 2 Christmas homecoming shows at Oxford Town Hall, as well as the XFM Winter Wonderland show at Brixton Academy with Bloc Party. Not to mention a series of "hush hush" club dates from Gaz and Danny under the not-so-secret identity of the Diamond Hoo Ha Men. EMI. 2008.