In It for the Money – Brakes on the Alright grin

Sawmills, darker than Alright

In April 1997, In It for the Money set aside the grin of Alright and recorded a darker, wider Supergrass. Gaz Coombes, Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey, still barely out of their teens, self-produced the Parlophone follow-up with John Cornfield at the desk. They wanted a larger sound, not another cartoon summer. The cover shows the three Oxford kids as buskers, with a hat and a double bass. The title undercuts that pose. The tapes are louder than the picture, and the band had already decided celebrity was optional.

“Richard III” opens at speed, with Goffey’s drums carrying the track. “Sun Hits the Sky” is brighter and more psychedelic. “Late in the Day” softens and still has nerve. “Cheapskate” and “Going Out” keep the sneer. The title track starts quiet, builds, and stops sooner than the arrangement suggests. Horns and Mellotron sit under Coombes’s flexible vocal. The songs keep the garage push of the debut, with more of the arranged detail associated with Abbey Road.

The album holds because the band wanted more room on one running order. Alternative guitar, indie melody and a punk refusal to stay cute share that order. The UK peak was number two. The singles reached radio without sounding written only for radio. Listeners who preferred this record to the brighter debut still come back to it. Spielberg had offered a sitcom. The band chose the studio. That choice is still audible in the thick choruses.