The return of Scotland's great Britpop survivors

The band, which rose from the city’s music scene in the early Nineties, made their name with infectious hooks, quirky lyrics, and catchy melodies. Their hit singles included Smile, which was nominated for an Novello Award and was famously used on several TV adverts, Lazy Lover, and The Day Before Yesterday’s Man. They had signed to Parlophone’s Food Records in 1996 (Food was then enjoying massive success with Damon Albarn’s Blur), and they hit the ground running with their 1997 album, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore, which surged into the Top Ten.

The album captured the effervescent spirit of Britpop  — fun, catchy, and instantly relatable. 

The group caught the attention of the British media, and were invited to showcase their boundless energy on such TV shows as TFI Friday and Top of the Pops. They toured industriously, too, playing venues across the UK. They entertained fans at T in the Park and Glastonbury, and supported such major-league acts Robbie Williams and Tina Turner.

A Glasgow Herald gig review from February 1997, when they supported Gene, gives a flavour of the band’s exhilarating live performances. “They’re a right chirpy buncha geezers, The Supernaturals. Smiley happy people playing the Barrowland for the first time, they go for it big style with their Supergrass-meets-the-Boo Radleys-by-way-of-Queen glee-bop. I’ve seen some high kickers in my time, but never one who leaps as large as their joanna boy when he steps out from behind his keyboards. We’re talking enthusiasm a go-go.

“Got some right good tunes, too”, the reviewer added. “Their last single The Day Before Yesterday’s Man garnered well-deserved public and critical approbation, and their upcoming single Smile is a bit of a killer, but diamond number of the night was a ditty entitled Fifties Song. A jangly torcher with extra hip shake shimmy. Beautiful”.

The Supernatural’s success story continued when the follow-up album, A Tune a Day (1998), sold well and peaked at number 21.  Their gigs that year included two sold-out shows at The Garage, on Sauchiehall Street. The Herald’s reviewer wrote: “In keeping with the quintet’s admirable air of wry self-deprecation, Sunday night’s homecoming gig .... was free of all pomp. ‘Do you think we’re superstars now?’ asked frontman James at one point. Female screams greeted his enquiry, but James remained unconvinced. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said with an air of finality”. But it was all in good fun.

Before the release in 2002 of the experimental electronica of the next album, What We Did Last Summer, the Supernaturals’ national profile had declined from its Britpop peak. As the Glasgow Herald observed in September 2001, it was, to many, as if the band had simply disappeared off the motorways of the UK, “victims of record company politics and impatience, never to be heard of again”.

After the album’s release, the Supernaturals embarked on a lengthy hiatus. Recognising that music tastes were changing and new genres emerging, they decided to step back in order to focus on individual projects.

Music: The Supernaturals, The Garage, Glasgow

And that was it, until 2012, when a sunny barbecue brought the band back together again. Realising that they could still rework their own magic, they released new music and took to the touring and festival circuit with all of their accustomed energy.

And now, next weekend, comes their biggest headlining gig since they reformed. It’s good to have them back. So many Britpop bands had their brief moment in the sun, and few of them enjoyed the colossal (and lasting) success of Oasis or Blur. The Supernaturals still have a strong fan-base, as evidenced by their Facebook page. “Looking forward to seeing you in November”, writes one fan. “A Supernaturals gig is always like a school reunion. Lots of faces I recognise from the many, many SN concerts over the years!”

Since the reunion, the Supernaturals have played the Belladrum, Loopallu, Leestock, and the Starshaped Britpop festivals. They’ve hit the road with fellow Nineties luminaries such as Sleeper and Dodgy, and shared the stage with Echobelly, Black Grape and Ocean Colour Scene. As the band acknowledges, they’ve rekindled the camaraderie of the Britpop scene and reminded audiences why they fell in love with these bands in the first place.

“We are all looking forward to playing Saint Luke’s on the 24th”, says David Currie, who’s been the Supernaturals’ keyboard player for the last 10 years.

“We haven’t done a huge amount of gigs, we have been fairly selective think it’s especially because, this time around, the band has just been able to do what it wants, when it wants.

“Beforehand, there would be management teams and record labels calling the shots. There was pressure to succeed, because it was a career and it was your income, but now everyone has got their own day-jobs and it’s all done for enjoyment, so we can be selective in what we do.

“The gigs we have done so far have all been very well received, and the ones we’ve done in Glasgow have all sold out. Saint Luke’s is the biggest one we’ve done since the band reformed. The sales have been really good and I think it’s close to selling out.

“When the band get together and tell stories about life back in the old days it’s clear that they did enjoy it. I don’t think they felt as if they were prisoners, or were doing things they didn’t want to, but now they feel absolutely free of any pressure and they’re doing things for the enjoyment they bring.. I think that also comes across in the sheer quality of our live performances now. There’s more freedom”.

The new album is being released on the city’s excellent label, Last Night from Glasgow. LNFG’s website notes that it will initially be released on CD and a  limited, 100-copy run on LP format, each on “ghostly white vinyl”. The album will also include a limited edition alternative cover insert and a signed individually numbered Obi Strip. Pre-orders are now being taken.

The new album will, says David, be “a little bit darker”, lyrically and musically, than might have been expected. The band’s original guitarist, Derek McManus, died, tragically and unexpectedly, in June 2022, and other losses have been suffered by the band.“Many of the lyrics talk about life and about things like that happening”, observes David. “But recording it, I have to say, has been quite a relaxed process. James has written all the songs on it. We basically started off with an iPad and drum machine and built songs up from there. I think the fans will really like what they hear when it’s released”.

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The Supernaturals take the view that Saint Luke’s will provide an intimate yet electrifying atmosphere for a night of nostalgia, celebration, and, of course, those signature singalong choruses they’re known for. They’ll be joined on the night by Britpop favourite, Mark Morriss of The Bluetones, as a special guest—a pairing sure to thrill Britpop fans. 
Like many bands who first found fame in the Nineties, the Supernaturals have witnessed more than a few changes in line-up. The musicians who’ll take to the Saint Luke’s stage are David on keyboards, James McColl as lead singer/guitarist, Mark Guthrie on bass guitar, Gavin Crawford on drums and Joe Greatorex on lead guitar.

To accompany the new album, dates have been lined up for a mini-Scottish tour. A glance at recent setlists shows the Supernaturals blending hits and other established favourites with newer songs: Submarine Song, I Wasn’t Built To Get Up, Monday Mornings, Lazy Lover, Life Is A Motorway, Day Before Yesterday’s Man, Everest, and Smile.

Saint Luke’s will be packed next Sunday night. It’s good to have Scotland’s great Britpop survivors back in action.

* The Supernaturals are on Facebook. www.stlukesglasgow.com