I Should Coco (1995)

I Should Coco is the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Supergrass, released on 15 May 1995 by Parlophone. The title of the album is Cockney rhyming slang for "I should think so".

Supergrass were formed in 1993 by Gaz Coombes, Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey, and they released their debut single, "Caught by the Fuzz", in October 1994 on the small independent local label Backbeat Records. Success of the single brought a major label record deal. I Should Coco was recorded in Cornwall and produced by Sam Williams, who had been impressed by the band while scouting in Oxford. At the height of the Britpop era, the album became the band's most successful release when it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, and subsequently gained platinum status, selling over a million copies worldwide and 500,000 in the UK. The most successful single released from I Should Coco is "Alright", which peaked at number two on the UK singles chart, and gained platinum status.

Recording and production

Supergrass formed in 1993 after the break-up of The Jennifers and consists of Gaz Coombes (lead vocals), Danny Goffey (drums), Mick Quinn (bass), and Rob Coombes (keyboards). Gaz Coombes, Goffey, and Quinn had been playing gigs around Oxford when they were spotted by producer Sam Williams, who said he wanted to work with them. Between the months of May and August, the band recorded a six track demo at Sawmills Studio and, having signed a deal with Backbeat Records, a limited number of copies of "Caught by the Fuzz" and "Mansize Rooster" were released. The demo had also quickly reached EMI, however, and that led to the group being signed by the Parlophone label, which would re-release the two songs. Quinn said "it took about three and a half months total recording time and cost less to make than the video for Alright."

A recording made at Carfax Tower in Oxford provided the bell chimes heard at the end of "Strange Ones". These chimes were only heard on the I Should Coco version, not on Supergrass Is 10, because on the I Should Coco album the chimes are used as a transition to the next track, "Sitting Up Straight", which was not included in Supergrass Is 10. "Strange Ones" was written about Cowley Road, Oxford, a place where the band once lived. It was originally intended to be the "throwaway song" on the B-side to "Caught by the Fuzz". Another song on the album with the same theme, "I'd Like To Know", was inspired by listening to "Strange Ones" played backwards on tape cassette. Supergrass took this sound, wrote new lyrics for it, and had another song for their album. Gaz Coombes says, "One of the highlights of this album was recording 'Sofa (Of My Lethargy)'. ... I remember everybody got in the live room and had an instrument, including Sam [Williams] on bass, a friend of his on Hammond organ and we played the rest, all live, one take. ... We made I Should Coco so fast because we wanted to catch the energy and excitement of the songs on tape, and do it before the money ran out!" In a 2005 interview with BBC Radio London Quinn remembered "writing that song ['Time'] in my living room on a rainy day and Gaz sort of turned up with this chord sequence and we just went straight through it and just did it on 4 track".

Cover art and title

The album title is Cockney rhyming slang for "I should think so". The front cover of the album is a painting based on three separate photos of Coombes, Goffey, and Quinn. The portraits of Coombes and Goffey were taken by Quinn in the summer of 1994 when he was experimenting with a macro lens. The photo of Quinn was taken that same year by a friend, while they were on tour in Wolverhampton. The painting was then created by the Moody Painters who were based on Oxford's Cowley Road. The white band at the top was inspired by an old Donovan record that Quinn owned and is an homage to old 1950s and 1960s records, with the stereo-mono signs. The photo on the back of the album was taken at a club in London about five minutes after they came off stage. The photo consists of two separate shots grafted together because Quinn was "pulling a disgusting face in the original". All of these elements were then put together by Nick Bax of The Designers Republic to create the finished sleeve. The Bonus 7" featured a more kaleidoscope-style front cover, based on an original 1960's Parlophone paper 'company sleeve'.