I Should Coco - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

I Should Coco reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, stayed there for three weeks, and still remains the only number-one album Supergrass has ever achieved. It sold 500,000 copies domestically, earning Platinum status in the UK, and has sold over a million copies worldwide. NME writer Steve Sutherland gave the album a nine-out-of-ten rating. He wrote, "They play with the skill and assurance of a band who've been going for decades yet they still burn off the buzz of being new to the game." He added, "There's nothing contrived about I Should Coco, nothing added for effect."

Culturally, the album's glorification of teenage freedom made a very big impact on the overall Britpop music scene. The whole genre was seen as the voice of youth, but Supergrass, still teens themselves when the album was made, addressed the subject with more insight than most. The most well-known song from the album, "Alright", is still played regularly in Britain and Ireland, and held up as a musical example of teenage rebellion. Though it is one of their most popular songs, the band rarely play "Alright" in their live sets anymore. In a 1999 interview, Gaz Coombes joked, "We don't play 'Alright' anymore. We should play it in a minor key, and in the past tense." Around the time of its release Coombes said that "it wasn't written as an anthem. It isn't supposed to be a rally cry for our generation. The stuff about 'We are young/We run green...' isn't about being 19 but really 13 or 14 and just discovering girls and drinking. It's meant to be light-hearted and a bit of a laugh, not at all a rebellious call to arms." Danny Goffey noted, "It certainly wasn't written in a very summery vibe. It was written in a cottage where the heating had packed up and we were trying to build fires to keep warm."

All five singles released in the UK from I Should Coco were well received by the British public. The first single from the album, "Caught by the Fuzz", peaked at number 43 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single from the album, "Mansize Rooster", was played as Supergrass' first live television performance on The Word in 1995, and reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart. "Lose It", officially the third single taken from the album, was a vinyl-only US release from Sub Pop records. "Lenny" was the fourth single from I Should Coco; it reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, and remained there for three weeks. The final release from the album, "Alright/Time", proved to be their breakthrough single, largely due to the popularity of the song "Alright". Supergrass' highest ranked single to date, along with "Richard III", "Alright" reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, remained in the top three for a month, and still receives airplay in the UK. I Should Coco was nominated for Best Album at the 1995 Mercury Prize awards, and the single "Alright" from the album won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

In a 2005 interview with The Times, Coombes said, "It’s insane that people think we would ever sound like that again ... We’re proud of 'Alright' and how well it did, but we never wanted to find a formula and stick to it. Our aim was always to progress and keep the music interesting, for us and for the fans. So the people who see us in the street and still shout ‘We are young’ may not like the new album, but fans who have grown up with us and know to expect change probably will."