POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Supergrass Brings Back Good Times

When Supergrass played the Kinks’ “Where Have All the Good Times Gone” at the Troubadour on Friday, it seemed both an obvious and essential choice. The young English trio’s own songs had already shown a distinct allegiance to the Kinks, the Small Faces and the Who. And building on that solid foundation, the group is, in fact, helping bring back the good times for British rock.

The Troubadour probably hadn’t hosted anything so clever and so English in years, except last summer’s Rutles revival. No satire this night, though, just pure affection for Kinks-sized melody and wit, without affectation--save for 19-year-old singer-guitarist Gaz Coombes’ Prince Valiant coif and simian sideburns and the recycled “Man From U.N.C.L.E.” graphics of the band’s logo.

Much of the material, from garage-y rave-ups to biting social observations, also had a recycled quality--doubly so, considering that a generation ago the Buzzcocks and the Jam employed much the same modus operandi. But the spirit was fresh and the fluid, powerful playing, anchored by bassist Mickey Quinn and drummer Danny Goffey, stood on its own.

In England, this neo-mod squad--whose debut album, “I Should Coco,” is the current No. 1--has joined Blur and Elastica in spearheading the resurgence of truly Anglo-angled pop. In West Hollywood it seemed no less vital.