British pop-rockers Supergrass—best known for their high-energy songs about teenage kicks and for legitimizing the word “Gaz” as an acceptable baby name—have decided to call it quits after 17 years, Reuters is reporting. (In a statement, the group cited a “17-year itch” and the usual “musical differences.”) The band had a string of hits in the ’90s beginning with its first single “Caught By The Fuzz,” its biggest success inarguably being “Alright” from 1995’s I Should Coco, a song that was nigh-damn-inescapable for a while there. The video, which had them driving around Wales in a bed on wheels and acting all kooky and British-like, reportedly inspired Steven Spielberg to contact them about doing a Monkees-style TV show. The group (wisely) turned him down, preferring to try and outrun its already steamrolling image as a bunch of goofy kids and get to serious work on its follow-up album.
Its next record, In It For The Money, was an even bigger success, outselling I Should Coco and spawning the hit single “Richard III.” Supergrass then returned after a short hiatus with its self-titled 1999 release, perhaps most notable for its Jim Henson’s Creature Shop-produced video for “Pumping On Your Stereo.”
Unfortunately, every minor triumph seemed to be met by an internal setback, with label-related delays and various personal woes—in addition to waning sales—greeting the production of each new album after that. Still, the band managed to crank out critically hailed albums like 2005’s underrated, slightly darker Road To Rouen. After 2008’s Diamond Hoo Ha, Supergrass broke off from its longtime home at EMI and went independent, and was said to be working on a new, seventh studio album. There’s no word yet whether any of that new material will see release, but before the band disappears forever, it’s playing four European-only farewell shows.
