For a genre embraced for its forward thinking, Brit-rock bands sure age poorly.

With the exception to Supergrass, other mid-’90s giants have fizzled with nary the rock ’n’ roll chops or smarmy Englishness the genre’s name implies.

Oasis hasn’t been great since 1995, or good since 1997. And from Pulp to Radiohead to Stereophonics, the few acts that remain all had heydays in John Major’s United Kingdom. Though Damon Albarn, as a member of Gorillaz, is the most creative-minded of his contemporaries, his band Blur has been reduced to a side-project.

However, Supergrass has improved with age by riding the waves of a marvelous, borderline-schizophrenic debut through two subsequent, sporadically enjoyable misses. The band’s 2002 glam-inspired “Life On Other Planets,” is still the Oxford boy’s paramount recording, but the trio-turned-quartet’s fifth LP is not far behind.

By combining acoustic soundscapes and eloquent pianos with driving percussion and Gaz Coombes always-confidant vocal wavering, the nine tracks are vast but never boundless. And knowing when to pull back the reigns remains the album’s strongest point.

The slow-starting opener, “Tales Of Endurance,” grows to a five-minute crash-course in guitar hooks. While these hooks are interjected through the oft-subdued 35-minutes, only the title track and “Kick In The Teeth” sacrifice atmosphere for thorough rock gasconade.

The instrumental, tiki lounge-inspired “Coffee In The Pot” stands as the release’s lone gaffe.

But the band members can take a two-minute martini break if they want – they’ve earned it.