Super Furry Animals

If Brian Wilson was a young man today who was weaned in the indie pop/rock scene, this is the sort of music he'd probably have made. Its tribute to psychedelic pop finds infectious rhythms and low-key harmonies competing for attention. It's polished and often beautiful, especially in the way that some of the more dynamic tunes just sort of creep up on you. Some bland moments on occasion, but it's definitely an album to listen to front to back.

Surprisingly, the album's greatest standout is the heaviest, merging power pop with industrial rock dynamics on "Sidewalk Serfer Girl." Not for all tastes, especially when it starts getting electro-funky like the ending of "No Sympathy," but it's certainly imaginative and frequently retro (check out the lounge-soul swing of "Juxtaposed With U"). Besides, any album with a song called "Shoot Doris Day" can't be all bad, can it?

Best cuts: "Sidewalk Serfer Girl," "Receptacle For the Respectable," "Juxtaposed With U," "Shoot Doris Day," "Rings Around the World," "It's Not the End of the World?" "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street," "No Sympathy," "Run! Christian, Run!"

Simply put, this is the most refreshing listen I think I've ever heard.

SFA is a hybrid of 70% Beck and 30% Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Super Furry Animals' "Rings Around The World" is a great album which barely falls short of being a classic. It's fault are pretty noticable. The first is that the singer isn't for everyone and isn't that good anyway. The second is that the songs, though all good, aren't that great. They're kind of a guilty pleasure (they're mostly for your own pleasure - I don't think playing it front of others would be a good idea). None of the songs are "bad", but none of them are "great" either (they're all good to very good). Also, some of the songs start off well but end very poorly (most notably is "Receptacle For The Respectable"). I still can't really tell what's going on lyrically, but I know that you won't be singing along to any of the songs (except, perhaps, "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" which is one of the few real standouts). Musically it's pretty good but it isn't great. I don't think their 60's-ish sound hurts the songs. Genre fans should like it - I don't think it has mass appeal. Recommended.

Highlights include:
everything (though there's definitely standouts)

I have to admit to coming to Super Furry Animals rather late in the game. I am unfamiliar with their earlier albums (though I plan on rectifying that very soon), so I didn't know what to expect except that the album had come highly recommended by my brother. There are so many very good things that I would like to say about this one. First and foremost, it is immensely enjoyable, and by that I mean that a large number of the cuts engender a sense of joy while listening. I hate metaphors that cut across genres, but you know the way that champagne fizzles in the mouth when you drink it? Well, that is almost how I feel when I hear these great songs. Second, although all the songs are great, each one manages to be great in a way that depends in no way on the other songs. For instance, the title cut sounds like the Beach Boys processed through alternative, punk, and power pop. It both sounds like the Beach Boys, and doesn't, but either way does not sound like any other song on the album. Similarly, the boys in the band see fit to raid at random the entire rock and roll songbook. In a couple of spots they actually use the same guitar/voice synthesizer that Peter Frampton popularized. They constantly sound completely original and yet very much like someone else. This willingness to create new syntheses from a huge range of musical influences is one thing that a host of the more creative current bands in rock have in common.

This is also one of those rare albums that completely justifies being issued on two CDs. This is not a function of insufficient discipline in editing: there simply is a lot of great music. From the very first song with the enticing title "Alternate Route to Vulcan Street" through a host of superb songs, this is just great stuff. Some of my favorite include the title track, the stellar "Receptacle for the Respectable," or "Juxtaposed with U" (which uses the Peter Frampton synthesizer, and in other ways sounds as if it warped straight out of some seventies soundtrack), and "Sidewalk Serfer Girl." The bonus disc contains many cuts just as excellent as those on the original disc, making the American version of the album an amazing bargain for the price.

What especially intrigues me about these guys is that several things I have read indicates that many people prefer some of their earlier albums. If they have done stuff better than this, then I can barely wait.

Considered to largely be their most accessible album (& the most overproduced), My entry into the world of the Furry animals was via this album. And admittedly other albums have a more abrasive, Experimental sound, but the impact of the songs here are no less worthy than ones found on previous albums. In fact with the lush psych-pop of "Alternate Route To Vulcan Street", or the Warped beach boys melodies of "(Drawing) Rings Around the World", and sensitive ballads "It's not The End of The World"....Its hard for me not to give this album the same critical acclaim that I'd deservedly heap upon its predecessors. Purists will argue that "Fuzzy Logic" & "Radiator" are the bands best work and there are largely right, but if your new to the band, this makes for a fantastic starting point and eases you into their Quirky / Psychedelic sound...before progressing onto their more Experimental albums. But for me...the easiest (& occasionally most enjoyable) starting point is here.

Wales' finest psych-indie-weirdos bring yet another great album to us. Honestly, I don't enjoy it as much as the last one, but it is quite good. It is more focused and less psychadelic than the last effort.

"Baby Ate My 8Ball" is a bit ridiculous but what else do you expect from these guys. My favorite songs are "Run Away", "Show Your Hand", and "The Gift That Keeps Giving."

I saw them play most of this album last fall at the Metro in Chicago. Times New Viking opened up and they were a bit boring unfortunately. I wanted to like them. SFA, however, were amazing. If you are a fan, you would be crazy to skip this album - also pick up both of Gruff Rhys's solo albums and the Neon Neon disc. CHEERS

Some have compared this release with Fuzzy Logic and this was, for them, a good thing. After buying Phantom Power and Rings Around The World I found Fuzzy Logic to be bland and generic.

Hey Venus is better than Fuzzy Logic in that it contains two songs that I enjoy rather than none. Most of the tracks are repetitive and lacking in the sparks that made the last SFA albums so good.

Perhaps Gruff Rhys' solo effort, Candylion, took away some of the songs that would have ended up here. Perhaps they decided to lay off the weed for a while. Whatever happened, Hey Venus is a step backwards for such a talented band.

If you didn't already know--Super Furry Animals formed in WALES (1993). Please take a moment to consider a magical creature out of respect. Anyway, this album is full of melodic, irreverent, and willfully artsy rock & roll. Traditionally, the band has sung in their native Welsh; however, they have traded their souls and sing in English now. This album captures the genre of pop more than their previous album, and they have been likened to super-poppy bands like Flaming Lips. However, Super Furry Animals ousts Flaming Lips (in contrast gave away their souls to aliens). Track 5 sounds like Of Montreal at times. Every song seems to stem from another band's jam actually, but the album is still damn catchy--which is all a striving pop album needs. Strangely, track nine sounds like the final song in Music and Lyrics. Play `em all.

You really don't know what to expect from a band called Super Furry Animals. I realize Hey Venus isn't their first album, but I think only a handful people of people have ever even heard of them. Anyway, I decided to check out this album, and it isn't bad.

Super Furry Animals are classified as "indie pop" (which is really just a fancy way of saying "miscellaneous"), so this album won't necessarily appeal to everyone. There are some decent tracks, though, like "The Gift That Keeps Giving" and "Into the Night". The mini-interlude "The Gateway Song" is pretty good too.

But that's about it. Sometimes songs can get a little dull ("Let the Wolves Howl at the Moon"), and in a couple of places songs just don't make sense ("Suckers!"; "Baby Ate My Eightball"), but Hey Venus is still above-average. It's not the kind of album you'd expect to be nominated for a Grammy, but it still deserved a listen.

Anthony Rupert

First off, I was hooked after first hearing Rings Around The World. I've collected everything since. I will say, Hey Venus!, took a little getting use to. But once I did, I realized the brillance that is. Every listening reaps rewards, if you are willing to devote the time. Musically? Sharp, concise, hook-laden, funky, weird, little tunes. I hear Beach Boys. I hear chilled out 70's-type soul music. I hear early glam. But there is no mistaking, this is Super Furry Animals. That's what makes it so enjoyable. If you dig SFA, you'll dig this. If you are "on the Fence", prolly not. You're choice.

A complex, trippy, yet, catchy album without the bubblegum nonsense. Even though this is the only album I have heard from SFA, I am interested in listening to others. Nice surpise. I enjoy it.

Radiator is one of the most difficult great albums I've heard. In fact, the first time I listened to it, I wasn't sure I liked it at all. There aren't as many instantly satisfying songs here as there are on Rings Around the World or even Fuzzy Logic, but this one's even more admirable because of its startling dynamism in separating the oil and water differences between their grinding, avant-garde electro expressionist aesthetic and their classically influenced passion for a good pop tune.

It's easy to adore the gorgeous electronica-infused chamber pop melody of "Download," but try out the squealing fuss suspended just above the rhythm in "The Placid Casual." Then try out the multiple personality freak-out invention, "Bass Tuned to D.E.A.D." The end of "Mountain People" sounds like the band's tressed up in Devo-esque jumpsuits and firing lasers across the studio space. And they seem to take a detour through a Spaghetti Western in the middle section of "Demons." Album standout, "She's Got Spies," is a powerful blast of psychedelic pop as if delivered by raucous punks; kind of ironic that one of the more accessible songs is one of the best.

It takes an unnecessary trip through intentionally dissonant noise rock that feeds on vibrating and polarizing tones on "Hermann Loves Pauline." They even give us a minute-and-a-half throwaway in "Chupacabras" which may only seem listenable because it follows the aforementioned "Hermann." What ties the album together is the band's consistent willingness to embrace pop melodies even while leaping from one fuzzy, reverbed-out lily pad to the next. It just misses masterpiece status, but anyone who enjoyed their 2001 populist breakthrough should find plenty to like here, even if it requires patience and perspective.

Best cuts: "She's Got Spies," "Demons," "Down a Different River," "Download," "The Placid Casual," "Mountain People," "Bass Tuned to D.E.A.D." "Play It Cool," "Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir," "The International Language of Screaming"

'Radiator' is surely the best Super Furry Animals album, startlingly consistent and sounding, really, like no one else. It is crammed full of highlights, in fact the first 8 tracks are almost perfect. There's the upbeat exuberance of 'The Placid Casual' (which actually sounds a little like recent live dance experimentalists The Go! Team); the skewed otherworldlyness of 'Demons', which is their take on epic balladry, all distant trumpets, keyboards and acoustic guitars; the slightly camp 'Play It Cool', which is The Beatles and Jackie Wilson transported to a distant future generation together; perhaps best of all, the techno-meets-indie monster that is 'Hermann Loves Pauline', which feature a stomping chorus that pre-empts Franz Ferdinand's 'Take Me Out'. There are other amazing tracks, and nothing that really spoils the bunch. Excellent stuff.

'Radiator' is burst of sci fi inflected rich pop rock from Welsh band Super Furry Animals. Crammed full of sonic tricks and deep well polished guitars, drums and bass, its almost an overload of sound. It probably won't appeal to all, but if you're a fan of the Beach Boys (especially Brain Wilson) or other brit pop band like Supergrass you might want to give this album a spin.

The sound is as mentioned above something akin to Beach Boys circa Pet Sounds, only as played by the muppets. Most crucially 'Radiator' has the tunes to live up to that description. While certaintly not as great as 'Pet Sounds' tunes like 'The Internation Langauge Of Screaming, She's Got Spies and Down A Different River' a brilliant little songs that you'll find yourself humming along all the time after you first hear them. The standout track though is 'Demons' which opens with the brilliant line 'clarity just confuses me' and develops into a depressing pop ballad of exceeding brilliance that merges hypnotic key boards with mariachi horns and fuzzy guitar riffs in away you can't help but fall in love with.

You might not get all the reference to Wales and the UK, you certaintly won't hear all the sonic trickery thats going on the first time, but you'll find yourself captivated by this great little album time and time again.

writing after reading the sole review from 2004 (the author must be
9 by now) offering only 1 star and the dumbest personal attack since
Mike Love was shut down by Mick Jagger.

as comps go this is near perfect, partly due to the flow of the tracks. on a singles album there are no "and this is the single" moments -perhaps the reason our first kindly reviewer found the Welsh band too
diverse to digest. yep.. which is what i love about them.
diverse but perceptive of their boundaries, each album keen to explore not a new SOUND as much as a new feel. a very smart band who were not actually darlings of the Brit press - not everyone got it.

i did. you did. Beck did! i hear scattered SFA bites all over his
90's junk. and Blur? go back to their self titled "woo-hoo!" debacle
and see what you find. yeah Damon, you did change your band's sound...
or rather borrowed it from somewhere.

after much success it was time for a best of and also a splendid
time for one dismissive idiot to refer to "Juxtaposed With You" as a Barry White knock off and in a brilliant play on words, citing
"If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You" as yes, being "destroyed".
too easy.
SFA fans - NO ONE RESPONDED? yeah i know these regard the import
but c'mon.

i had already purchased so i can blame the rest of you for letting
us down. and of the Furries, i cannot in my wildest dreams imagine a "Songbook Vol. 2" as the post best-of albums (including a
noticeable decline throughout Phantom Power)has failed to
capture my attention.
i still love the band and last year's "Hey Venus!" is their
BEST since "Songbook".
NOW does anyone wanna comment? let's have it.

A nice catch-all of singles and concert favorites, though it can be a bit of a jagged listen. These songs weren't originally conceived to sit together comfortably as an album, and as such they don't sit all that comfortably. In small doses, every single one is a confectionary delight. As a whole, the album could use a bit more breathing space.

Ok let me start by saying i gave this cd 4* instead of 5 because every single song for the most part in there past cataloge are just as good as the singles presented here, so you might get this and think this is all you need. You are very wrong. That was the mistake i made for about 5 months after i got this cd, then one day i thought awww ill just get a few more of there cds for the heck of it, and man they dont have any stinker songs. Now the only cds of theres that im missing is fuzzy logic and the gurilla one (i cant remember what its called but something like that). They to me are the beatles, they change there styles more times than the beatles can think of and there harmonies are more like the beach boys. They are increddible. Ive been trying to turn every person i can on to them because they are just that good. There should be no reason in the world that they arnt a household name and there shouldnt be a reson for you the consumer not to like them. They are glorious pop music for the masses. They put every other pop band to shame.

I had heard about these Welsh guys a long time ago. Entertainment Weekly loved Phantom Power, but I didn't pay attention. Lo and behold, several years have passed and I found out they had a greatest hits cd out. So I preordered it and got it two days ago. Their music has few similarities to bands before them, except for the Beach Boys at times. If the Beach Boys had done this many drugs, maybe I would have liked them too. But Super Furry Animals form very innovative music in the vintage soundscapes they create. I recommend scanning over their razor-sharp witty lyrics while listening. In fact, now I want to learn to speak Welsh just to figure out what exactly they're saying on "Yesbeidiau Heulog", and "Blerwytirhwng?". I'm definitely going to join the SFA cult and if you like music at all, you should too.

Oh, and don't forget to blast "The Man Don't Give A F*ck" down neighborhood streets ;)

How can this not be five stars, ya know? I have followed them since Fuzzy Logic and really, they've done no wrong. Their b-sides are better than some bands'a-sides. I am about to purchase the dvd instead with the videos and documentary. As much as I am a fan, listening to their full lengths will always sound better. If you are newly keen on this band, the greatest hits is a great start. If you want to try more, "Radiator" or "Rings Around The World" are definite must-owns.

It¡¯s a science experiment gone terribly, terribly wrong. Dr. Gruff Rhys (lead vocals) of the Fuzzy Logic Laboratory has just ingested a byproduct of his last experiment on the effects of D-lysergic acid diethylamide on the daily activity routine of hamsters. What were his findings? Take a step into the debut album of this post-alternative psychedelic band and you will find out their results.

From the very first line of the album ¡°I had a soul transplant operation,¡± to the very last chaotic crashing explosion of percussion and string instruments at the end of the last track (which is supposed to be the trashing of a BBC music studio), Super Furry Animals take you on a tour of their mad laboratory. At the first stop on the tour, ¡°God! Show Me Magic,¡± SFA have promised to show you ¡°What the paper doesn¡¯t show/ What the TV doesn¡¯t say.¡± It is a crash course preparing you for the delightful oddities packed in the next forty minutes of listening pleasure. The second stop on the tour, ¡°Fuzzy Birds,¡± is the hamster cage. Bunf (lead guitarist) is praising Starvos, his hamster, for turning his exercise wheel that is wired to a dynamo system generating electricity for the house. Starvos replies, ¡°So won¡¯t you give me some food, I really need to get some energy in me.¡± You¡¯re beginning to think that something isn¡¯t quite right in the world of Super Furry Animals. It¡¯s as if SFA and David Lynch teamed up to be the ringleaders of a new sick and twisted circus. Finally, in the third track, you find out the inspiration to their madness. Rhys tells you, ¡°Stuck it on the back of my tongue and swallowed it.¡± ... this song is truly a masterpiece.

Even with the absurd lyrics, the album does not drown in a pool of silliness. Somehow Super Furry Animals keep it dignified among screeching guitars, psychedelic background effects, exultant melodies, and impudent lyrics. ¡°Frisbee,¡± possibly the album¡¯s finest track, is reflective of this SFA¡¯s ability to produce a dreamlike musical landscape with cheeky lyrical headlines. The song begins, ¡°Locked in a sorry dream/ You know we¡¯re drowning in designer ice cream.¡± This is followed by a chorus of Umpalumpa-like hooting and wild guitar effects to produce a uniquely jubilant orchestral circus. Don¡¯t put it past SFA to incorporate instruments from the classical music tradition. In songs like ¡°Fuzzy Birds¡± and ¡°If You Don¡¯t Want Me To Destroy You¡± you can hear everything from French horns, to violins, to even a melodic chirpy flute.

On the more critical side, the album is not without its shortcomings. The first seven tracks lead you on a journey through sophistication and wild surprises. Then, at track 8, it slowly begins ¡°gathering moss.¡± Of the last five tracks, three are lacking in the same creativity that pushed the first seven tracks to the edge of musical genius. In ¡°Bad Behavior,¡± heavy guitar distortion and elementary chord progressions reduce this lyrical nightmare to little more than average punk music. It¡¯s as if they became tired of writing songs with the release date quickly approaching, so they tossed in some fluff to get the album over forty minutes. The only gem is the ballad of ¡°Mario Man,¡± a homage to a man who has had horrible luck in life. It begins with a music box keyboard solo and finales in an eruption of distorted guitar solos and powerful backup vocals.

SFA formed in 1993 and dabbled in electronica, but surfaced with Fuzzy Logic as one of the leading experimental bands in the UK and the frontrunner in the new Welsh music movement, alongside Gorky¡¯s Zygotic Mynci. After the release of Fuzzy Logic, SFA gathered a cult following in the UK and Ireland, but the US was slow to release the album. Fuzzy Logic is a term used in mathematics for notions that cannot be defined precisely but which depend on their context. The music truly reflects the album title. A must have for anyone who relishes the sound of a creative, experimental band in an era of stagnant Brit-pop. SFA knew they were verging on greatness and boldly claimed in the last delightfully cheesy lyric of the album, ¡°we¡¯ll be together till the end, now and forever.¡±

There are times in your life when you hear an album and you know that you will absolutely love it forever, I have two:

SFA - Fuzzy logic
Wannadies - Be a Girl

Quick review of fuzzy logic
God Show me magic - didn't like when i first heard it, but its just so manic and full of energy, impossible not to love the crazy rhyming lyrics
"wouldn't it be nice to know
what the paper doesn't show
what the tv doesn't say
what my hamster ate today"
always makes you wonder with the furries, has the acid really eaten into their brains, or are they really incredibly intelligent and know things we don't or shouldn't?
Fuzzy birds
A song about a hamster, a song to put a smile on your dial.
A song for hamsters everywhere, hamsterism is here and Stavros is its spokehamster
Something for the weekend
Drugs, that 'bad/good' feeling you have when you take drugs... its all in this song, gruff amps it up initially as the 'bad side', the squeaking guitars do their bit, and then... wow the chorus that had me hooked forever like the worst drug in the world, its all good.
"Oh yeah, cause you're on my mind
Every day and every night
And you'll never go away
Cause I know you're here to stay
For the rest of my mind..."
Frisbee
Guitarist comes in with a great hook and doesn't let go. Great oddball lyrics - "locked in a sorry dream, you know we're drowning in designer icecream" and "The past was eagle-eyed, the futures pixelised". The other great thing about frisbee is the odd scream-instrument and backing chorus throughout the song, lend it valuable character
Hometown unicorn - I was lost, lost on the bypass road, could be worse, I could be turned to toad..." Need I say more, if you've heard this song you know how the rest goes and your heart swings as gruff croons "I wonder what can I do.........." and the incredibly simple yet beautiful guitar solo kicks in. This song is just f..g great.

Gathering Moss - a time filler, brings you back to reality after the incredible opening five songs. You could imagine sitting on a rock in Ireland just watching clouds float past overhead or counting cows and thinking how sad life is, sincerely...
If you don't want me to destroy you - gruff carries this song initially, and then, holy s..t a f..g orchestra, in a pop song, i thought these guys were on acid. How the f..k do they know how to combine pop and classical instruments and just melt your f..g heart. The band don't need to do anything while the orchestra plays, just carry the beat, but when its their turn again, boy do they kick in. AND angrily, Gravity, you just hold me down so quietly!!! Damn planet, how dare you hold me down... And now, they combine with the orchestra and fade out....
Bad Behaviour - This is the keyboardists song, and what a song to make an impact. Gruff and backers carry the song initially, soso lyrics and nice backup vocals "bad bad, bad bad behaviour...." and then comes the mind f..k. The guitarist kicks it off, goes nuts, bit more chorus, and then the MIND F..K. Keyboardist goes nuts, but, its totally appropriate. And then, Elvis, how he finds his way into this song, I don't know, but his "uhh huh's" kick some f..g ass. Dont mess with the king.
Mario man - after five years, this track is now my favourite. The song is so easy listening and beautiful, you kick back, drink up Gruffs lyrics and voice and relax. Eventually, the fateful lyrics "zap zap wham wham says the mario man today" which seem to carry far more importance and meaningfulness to them than they actually do, its all in context. You have to hear it for yourself.
Hangin with Howard Marks - Love the guitars - Love Gruffs lyrics, they flow out of his mouth like velvet and he just nails it in this song. "washed down with a dire choke.." cut to *gruff choking*. gruff and band at their best.
Long gone - its a distance far away, the album is winding down, and you know this is it, in one more song, the album ends, musical brilliance will never get this good, why must it end? It cuts into some weird distorted laughing guy and fades out.
For now and ever - Well the furries knew I'd love this album, "we'll be together till the end, for now and ever"

...........................

I suppose there is nothing on earth entirely perfect, and everything must have a flaw, however small. The only flaw I can find with this album is that it finishes too soon.

Beautiful melodies played under the most tragically heartbreaking of lyrics, sung in a voice that sounds the aural equivalent of a kicked puppy. From Gathering Moss, with its sublime loneliness and depth of feeling, to the throwaway fun of Bad Behaviour and Hanging With Howard Marks, the tunes drift along dreamily, settling into your subconscious as if it had always been there. It is not fair to give SFA comparisons to punk, pop or Dylan: they are a beautifully anarchic folk band who somewhere along the line were handed guitars. We can only be thankful for that.

Coming right at the height of what the world knows as Britpop, Fuzzy Logic is a wonderful masterpiece filled with rocking guitars and gorgeous melodies. Gruff's (pronounced Griff) voice is strikingly superb for a first record, and his bandmates equal the quality on every single song.

This is by far the furries most straight ahead rock disc. Albums like Mwng and Guerilla bounce through many many styles, while the amazing Radiator acts as a bridge.

Just buy this.

Thankyou SFA for this masterpiece. I have owned this album forseveral years, but it still makes me shudder every time I hear thestrange lyrics and unusual bass lines. PLease buy this album and enjoy Welsh music in its purest (and mashed) form. Nothing I can say can give this album justice. And seeing SFA live at the Brixton Academy was one of the highlights of my life! Songs such as God! Show Me Magic and Fuzzy Logic are amazing and cannot be surpassed by any band except for SFA themselves in later albums (namely Radiator). The best Indie/Rock/Alternative album available on the world market.

this isn't a band: it's an addiction. after i bought "rings around the world" and was swept up in the super melodic trippiness of this fine band, i had to see what they'd do elsewhere. so i bought everything i could get my hands on. this is one of the better records (they're ALL very worthwhile).

do you like SPARKLEHORSE, THE BLACK WATCH, BLUR, NADA SURF, ELO (yes, them--or the move) and of course the beatles and beach boys (yes, the best bits of the beach boys--ie brian songs, harmonies)...this is at once adventurous and undeniably pleasant...what a FIND!!! they should be huge.


buy this and trip out!!!

The Furries scale back the orchestral overhaul of their last effort for a more simplistic and natural sound on Phantom Power. But the effort occasionally suffers from snippets of glumness and slurring noise in the vocals. Maybe it's the Vedder disease, but considering how beautifully melodic a lot of these songs are, Gruff Rhys' energy seems exhausted, like he's going through the motions.

"Hello Sunshine" is sprightly, but sounds too pleading from the singing. "Golden Retriever" is a fine single and very catchy, but Rhys is simply marble-mouthed. Those sorts of vocals served them in the past (witness "Shoot Doris Day"), but not when they seem to be leaning more to New Pornographers than Beck/Blur. Luckily, they manage more than enough good moments to almost make up for it. "Slow Life" is a striking epic closer, "Out of Control" pulses with the energy lacking elsewhere, and "Piccolo Snare," while a bit lyrically obvious, contains joyous highs that are otherwise in short supply. But after the high of Rings (and knowing they'd stumble even deeper on Love Kraft) this is a band on the fast decline struggling to remain afloat.

Best cuts: "Slow Life," "Out of Control," "Golden Retriever," "The Piccolo Snare," "Valet Parking," "Liberty Belle," "Venus and Serena"

I was firmly addicted to this album for about a year. These guys are incredible. I don't think the comparison to Pet Sounds is fair. Every new indie "masterpiece" that comes out is compared to Pet Sounds, and I'd hate to lump this in with the wave of indie sludge that is coming out right now. SFA have their own unique sound that combines brilliant, offbeat songwriting with great musicianship, and they just have a great ear for what sounds good. Why they haven't caught on more in the states, I don't know.

As Hunter S. Thompson once said, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." This album is most definitely weird and was released at one of the weirdest times in human history. Destined to do quite poorly in the United States, it strikes at the main nerve of the post 9-11, in the end self-defeating, active defence lie and the capitalist fodder that fuels it. To go one further, the band has decreed the album carbon neutral and will plant enough trees to cover the ecological cost of the entire production run proving the band intends to stand behind its lyrics and not just abuse front page topics in search of controversy and the publicity that follows it [a lá Madonna]. They're in it for the long haul. Steeped in vocals reminiscent of the Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys cut with a droney Beta Band edge, this album has more psychedelic staples than you can exhale a bong hit at. There are heavily distorted and reverbed guitars, bizarre synth beeps and growls, haunting percussion work, sweeping orchestral arrangements, the occasional church organ, and much, much more.
Those who were not fans of their previous work will probably not like this either as, though it shows definite improvement, it progresses from where Rings Around The World left off. Likewise, those who avoid upbeat, harmonious choruses and country-influenced riffs and slide guitars should pass as well. Musically, this is three times as interesting as George Harrison's Brainwashed with more relevant and persuasive lyrics. Phantom Power lends itself nicely as a headphones album as layer upon layer of complexities and effects swirl dizzyingly from ear to ear. If you plan on doing any drugs before listening to this, wear a tight hat because it just may blow your mind. I'm still picking up the pieces of mine.

I always used to declare the Furries' debut as their essential masterpiece, never to be topped. Then I noticed that I listen to this one a lot more. Somehow it snuck into my top rotation and now refuses to leave. And I don't want to force it out. It's a lot more toned-down and mellow than their earlier work, which is something I really appreciate in the waning days of my youth here- I tend to care far more about the details of songcraft than energy for energy's sake these days. The details are what make this record. The addition of electrical beats at the end of track five, for example, and the way it builds through vocal harmonies into the chorus, is just beautiful. There are moments where we have country slide guitar, or blues riffs, or harmonies, or electronics, and it all sounds natural and organic. This band is vastly under-recognized, but I believe that they are one of the truly great bands of the modern era. Long may they thrive, and create music that is detailed, unique, catchy and artful (but not at all pretentious).

-H

Tezcatlipoca said it better than anyone in Europe that I have heard thusfar, and they even get radio airplay over there. This album is everything that is sounds like, and then some. Who could forget the "hidden" opening track 'Citizen's Band'?? These guys could seemingly do anything, as they would prove on 2000's lo(w)-fi Welsh release 'Mwng' and their next masterpiece, 'Rings Around The World'. As for Guerilla (now backed-up by a 6-track B-sides comp, the middle-of-the-album highlight 'Some Things Come From Nothing' really "brings the album together" as they would say on one of those home-designing shows.

Bottom line....superb pop album.

1999 was a terrific year for psychedelic rock fans.After the Flaming Lips showed they had honed their formula to a blissed out perfection with "The Soft Bulletin" the other great psych record of the year came, of all places, from Wales, residence of the Super Furry Animals.

This follow up to the welsh sung "Mwng" made abundantly clear how resourceful a band the SFA in fact were for there must be some craft involved in an album in which every single song sounds completely different from the previous.

"Do or Die" kicks off in punk pop style crashing into the medieval bard tune "Turning Tide" as seamlessly as the latter gives way to the enormous highlight that's the tropicalia of "Northern Lites".

"Nightvision" sounds like an alternative theme song for Batman and the electronic excesses of "Wherever I Lay my Phone(that's my Home)" flow neatly into the lo fi dirge of "Some things come from nothing" giving the impression that if the album ended at this point it would already be masterful.But it doesn't.It keeps piling on surprises like the festive techno workout "The Door to this House remains open", the sped up rock n'roll of"The Teacher" or the pastoral "Fire in my Heart"(a Gorky's Zygotic Mynci song in all but ownership).

As if it wasn't enough the record closes on a high note with the lovely "Chewing Chewing Gum" and the beatlesque stomp "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy".

Always diverse, always interesting the SFA have trully fashioned themselves into trailblazing visionaries waiting for the world to catch up with them, which it will sooner or later.

I bought this years ago as an import before it was reissued, but the same tracks appear. Although my wife made me turn it off because it "sounds like the Moody Blues," it doesn't really. But Steely Dan, hip-hop/stoner funk, and surprisingly catchy guitar & keyboard-driven songs with Gryff Rhys' charming vocals (here largely in English) make this an largely enjoyable album, more weighted towards chugging tunes rather than pithier and quieter more recent efforts. They are growing out of their imitative stages here, and the songs drawn from 1994-8 show them pursuing, largely successfully, a more psychedelic-driven/fueled, happier yet not a novelty-tune muse. (There are, however, a couple of songs towards the start of "Outspaced" that I tend to skip as too adolescent or silly.

It's certainly much better than the dour if polished "Phantom Planet." The more raucous, but ingratiating texture of their early career blends with a more experimental side, akin more to "Mwng" than the more commercialized "Rings." For me, many of the albums SFA makes have not dug as deep a groove in my mind as this odds-and-sods anthology, which collects a strong argument that sums up at their best SFA's meandering appeal.

This was my intro into the SFA world, and boy was I happy to experience it that way. Never have I heard such variety in an album executed so flawlessly - from the Pink Floyd inspired opening track "Zoom!" to the Afro sound of "Psyclone", SFA zips around, touching any genre they can, and hits a bullseye on each one. Rarely does an album become so cohesive and hold such emotional power; try not to get chills in the last few minutes of "Cloudberries". In the right state of mind, the album takes you to a whole new level (helpfully aided by a visualizer, of course). The band manages to emulate classic bands such as The Beatles and said Pink Floyd, but comes out with their own distinct style. No small feat. I've heard people call this album "uneven", but with unforgettable hooks in songs such as "Ohio Heat" and "Atomik Lust", I believe those critics no longer have credibility. The best album of the 21st century.

and this one is by far my favorite. great Welsh psych-britpop-altrock-dance stuff. really originally stuff, or mix of stuff.

ESSENTIAL FOR ALL!

Perhaps not too many people would agree with me, but I prefer Love Kraft to any other SFA album.

After seven albums, the Furries are either content in their position (unlikely) or are trying too hard to distance themselves from better days. They were ahead of their time almost every step of the way in the 90s and then in the early 00s released a Welsh-language LP and one packed with so much sonic excitement that overkill almost was the point. But now they've gone two in a row with disappointing safeness, dream pop stretched through noisy bluster, given mostly dull vocals by assorted members of the band.

Love Kraft is pretty much Phantom's equal in every way, from good and bad. It starts off well with the fuzzy melodious dream of "Zoom" and into the frantically fun "Atomik Lust." But then it settles in and drones on. The drudgery is broken from time to time by catchy electro-buzz pop ("Lazer Beam") and rising, near-anthemic power ("Frequency"), but it's a long haul to the satisfying conclusion on "Cabin Fever." For a band that was once so adventurous, the Furries desperately need to get fun again, because I'm starting to get bored.

Best cuts: "Frequency," "Zoom," "Lazer Beam," "Atomik Lust," "Cabin Fever," "Psyclone," "Ohio Heat"

Super Furry Animals have always had a bit of a retro feel. Ever since their first release their more atmospheric songs have always recalled a bit of the 1960's or 70's. Love Kraft seems to take that retro feeling to the extreme. Perhaps it's the mere fact that this is a more laid back album than most of their previous work, but the flower power sounding title suggests that that they are in fact consciously recalling a late 60's/early 70's feel--listening to it I'm tempted to go out and buy a black light.

The relaxed pace of the album may have led to boredom with a lesser band, but Super Furry Animals are such consumate craftsman that despite the slow moving pace they layer their songs so well you're ears are constantly alert. It's one of those albums where if you put on headphones you realize they actually hid the sounds rainforest in there. Despite their talent as songwriters the album still lags at parts. The beginning of "Walk You Home" could easily garner the backhanded compliment that it sounds like a Bond theme song. The only song that attempts to rock out is "Lazer Beam"--it's roller derby-tastic! I do feel strongly that the album should come with the following warning: do not take mind alterning drugs while listening to "Psyclone." Seriously, though, DON'T! I can just imagine someone dropping acid while listening to the album, and then having their head cave in at song nine. I can barely handle it's excentricities while wearing headphones. You'll know what I'm talking about if you listen to it, but I don't want to describe it for fear that some of you may be on mind altering drugs at this very moment.

Perhaps the Super Furry Animals felt that in a world of war and terrorism they needed to make an album that tackles all these problems with some 60's optimism. "Lazer Beam" is about escaping colonial imperialists by leaving earth in a spaceship, after all. If you think about that long enough it's not too far from the kind of thinking you'd get from a hippie, but the hippie wouldn't be joking. You just have to smile at the lyrics from "The Horn": "drink, smoke, love enjoy the ride/Right or wrong/Hair down long." I guess you can't be cynical all the time, and a little dose of retro optimism is needed now and then. My three favorite songs: "Ohio Heat," "Lazer Beam," and "Frequency."

I've avoided using the rock critic phrase that most aptly fits this album, but my will power is fading. Here it goes: while it won't win them any new fans, Love Kraft will definitely satisfy the devoted. Since I'm already one of those devoted I will probably go out and grab the aforementioned black light, and see if this thing corresponds with a famous musical. Maybe Fiddler On the Roof?

honestly, i have been a die hard fan of this band for many, many years, from the beginning, and this is one of their best albums, next to radiator (my all time favorite)! the secret track, "citizens band" is so amazing that i sometimes listen to that alone for days and days on end. if you like music like sfa you will never regret owning this or any one of their cds.... they are brilliant and nice guys to boot. i own every single thing they have ever done and this is a MUST for your collection.

At the height of the Furries innovation came 1999's Guerrilla, a chaotic clash of styles which somehow moulded itself into their best work. Similar to Rings Around The World but without the trappings of major label backing, this is a stunning collection which goes at breakneck speed.

From punk-pop (Do Or Die) to calypso (Northern Lites, surely the best opening single ever released off an album) to novelty techno (the utterly bonkers and utterly wonderful Wherever I Lay My Phone That's My Phone), Guerrilla somehow retains a focus despite it's eclecticism, with the band's genius knack for melody never faltering no matter what genre is attempted.

The centrepiece is Something's Come From Nothing, a 6 minute work of pure majesty. For all the intricacies on the other tracks, Somethings... is beautifully simple, straight-forward bass, guitar and drums providing the backbone. But this is Cian Ciaran's finest hour, delivering an absolute knock-out of a spaced-out melody that is undoubtedly the most staggeringly, heartbreakingly wondrous electronic piece of music ever released this side of Boards Of Canada.

"Something's come from nothing, nothing seems to come from something", is the songs key repeatedly line, Gruff barely singing, barely registering above the backing. It's fitting that SFA's best song (which is some compliment) also sadly sums up their UK career today. For all the pop gems that have loitered around the Top 20 for a week or so, it is absolutely criminal that Britain's best pop band have yet to have a Top 5 album or a Top 10 single. So while Keane, Stereophonics and the rest can have their now guaranteed success from next to nothing, the band creating most defintely something, heck, EVERYTHING, are left as a relatively popular cult band. And that is heartbreaking.

Super Furry Animals are something more than words. Each track here sounds so unique, that there's one or two that someone's going to like. "Do or Die" kicks off the record with a full frontal assault. Then, two ballads follow that sound like maybe The Beatles or Haircut 100. "Night Vision" is like The Fall trying to be a glam band. The next two cuts are weird experimental sounds. "Some Things Come From Nothing" sounds like a German post-rave chill group. Next, a strange collaboration between Martin Denny and Robert Moog. "The Teacher" is perhaps the Damned if they did more acid. "Fire in My Heart" shows SFA getting all roots rock. More techno noise. "Chewing Chewing Gum" is like The Kinks responding to Tommy. "Keep The Cosmic Trigger Happy" is all Pet Sounds in one song. Great album.

(www.freewilliamsburg.com)

The Super Furries have yet to dissapoint me. Every album to this point (including Phantom power) has been an incredible platter of outstanding songs, thoughtful lyrics and ingenious sound construction, but Guerrilla really stands head and shoulders above the rest.

SFA have an unparrelled ability to incorporate disparate genres, styles and sounds into hyper-charged modern rock tunes, and this album sees them assimilating island rythms, steel drums, wistful electronic flourishes, spazzy fuzz guitar freakouts and general playfulness with such a focused drive that you find it hard to believe that no one has ever thought of this before.

SFA's ability to blend innovation and familiarity reaches its zenith on the album's centerpiece song suite, which includes "Wherever I Lay My Phone", "Specific Ocean" and the gorgeous "Some Things Come from Nothing." Electronica blends seemlessly with rock, and that hyperactive playfullness rears its addled head.
Overall, SFA's best album (so far), and an excellent introduction to the band.

I love getting new cd's, especially when they're as good as this one. Just when I thought I knew this cd like the back of my hand I found out about a hidden track called 'Citizen's Band.' Just put the cd in and play it like normal, then hit the rewind or review button and you can rewind for 5 minutes before 'Check It Out' to the hidden track. It's like getting a new single only it's been on your shelf for ages!