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Something quite odd happened in the DiS offices today; an event of such rarity and eye-opening bewilderment, that it had to be documented for posterity.
Chatting away about the latest releases, as we are wont to do in this part of the world, we came to the spectre of the soon-to-be-released latest Super Furry Animals record. Normally for all band discussions there is a brief ding-dong argument about them; a flurry of opinions, split between nay or yay. Or sometimes an agreeing upon yay.
In this case, though, the conversation carried on for some time. Escalating fervently by the second, people clamoured to debate the Furries’ best album, their best song, the reason why they are quite as good as they are. It was that strangest thing in geek music chats: an_ entirely positive debate_. Astounding.
So, in order to salute the return of such genre-straddling giants and to doff the cap towards a rare outbreak of DiS harmony, we give you a handy point-by-point guide slash reasoned argument as to why Gruff and company are the consistently finest guitar band of the last decade.
I’ve waited my whole journalistic life to write this piece. C’mon!
1. It’s hard to choose a best SFA record based due to their almost unparalleled consistency.
Is it the whacked-out pop-magic of Radiator, with the manic excellence of ‘Hermann Loves Pauline’, the melancholic beauty of ‘Demons’ and the lonely splendour of ‘Mountain People’? Or the lush wonder of _Rings Around The World with the perfect plastic soul of ‘Juxtaposed With U’ and the acerbic warning of ‘Run! Christian, Run!’? Perhaps try their debut Fuzzy Logic, which defined what British pop could be again with the psychedelic wonder of ‘If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You’ and the drug-romper stomper ’Something For The Weekend’? You see?
2. Some of their best music has been discarded, thrown away as mere singles.
‘The Man Don’t Give A Fuck’ needs no introduction, as the greatest protest song / mosh pit-inducer of all time. But ‘Ice Hockey Hair’ inarguably ranks in the top ten pop songs of all time. Innumerable different choruses, perfect packaging and a joy that invokes only more unparalleled joy.
3. They redefined what modern a guitar band can be and do whilst still constantly bothering the charts.
A chameleonic band who have turned their hand to pretty much every genre of music, their albums have debuted, since_ Radiator, between numbers four and 11 (and that was for their Welsh language offering, _Mwng), which largely proves their ability to get it right every time. Soul, techno, rabble-rousing rock, power balladry, calypso and stoner mong have all featured and have all slammed the bull’s-eye every time. No ‘difficult new direction, we don’t think the public will understand’ for them.
4. They’d have Brian Wilson shitting his pants if we wound the clock back 40 years.
The Beach Boys guru always stated that his one true competitor in the perfect-pop stakes was the Beatles, essentially creating Pet Sounds to compete with Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club. But at their core, the Furries are an amalgamation of the two – understanding that the only way to match the two twin peaks of pop music is to love but not revere them. There are distinct echoes of both in the SFA sound, but there’s a whole lot more, too – taking them beyond what Lennon, McCartney and Wilson ever dreamed of combining/creating.
5. Part of the secret of the Furries’ success is their refusal to take themselves too seriously.
You feel that, at times, a band like Radiohead is suffocated by the pressures they put upon themselves, both in terms of expectation and a hyper-awareness of other people's perception. Not for the Furries. Refusing to avoid such classic rock clichés, it’s clear that they make the music that they want to make, and if a few million people buy it, then that’s a bonus. They’re also a band who’ve managed to combine humour and deadly seriousness like no other, lyrically and also in stage performance... the dressed-up trumpeters who accompany them for ‘Demons’ (Bride and Groom and Roman Soldiers, for a start), the infamous tank they took to festivals in the late ‘90s and then sold to Don Henley of The Eagles. The all-over neon body suits they wore in 2005, predating any horrible craze now, were_ particularly good. My personal fave was the shit-kicking power rangers that debuted during 'TMDGAF_' around 2003…
6. The constant striving for new levels of perfection and performance.
Fuck your nice lightshow – five years ago SFA were taking Surround Sound tours around the world in order to make you piss yourself with excitement and aural enlightenment. And it worked. And it was amazing.
7. The jaw-dropping live show.
With such an obscene selection of songs to choose from, every track is greeted like an old friend and the set mood can change in the bat of a turbo-charged rock song or languorous ballad’s eyelid. Add to that the infamous techno wig-outs (best ever being the double-kettle-drummed attack to end ‘Mountain People’, or maybe a giant-screened Arnold Schwarzenegger mouthing Bill Hicks’ famous line, “All governments are liars and murderers”), and it’s a joyous anything-goes celebration.
8. There’s no suggestion that there isn’t even better to come.
New LP Hey Venus is on a par with many of their best records, and represents a return to form after the slight dip of Love Kraft. Like all Furries records, it compiles sumptuous pyschedelia (‘Battersea Odyssey’), wall-of-sound pop (‘Run Away’) and crunching guitars (‘Baby Ate My Eightball’) and comes in at a concise 36 minutes long. Given that they’ve already offered us eight albums, plus a rarities compilation, best-of and remix album in eleven years, there’s nothing to suggest that the flow will stop…
The DrownedinSound-suggested SFA mix-tape best-of:
‘Ice Hockey Hair’ (single and_ Song Book_)
‘Something For The Weekend’ (Fuzzy Logic)
‘Down A Different River’ (Radiator)
‘Run! Christian, Run!’ (Rings Around The World)
‘Northern Lites’ (Guerrilla)
‘Juxtaposed With U (Rings Around The World)
‘(Drawing) Rings Around The World’ (Rings Around The World)
‘The Man Don’t Give A Fuck’ (single and OutSpaced)
‘Cabin Fever’ (Love Kraft)
‘Hello Sunshine’ (Phantom Power)
‘Hometown Unicorn’ (Fuzzy Logic)
‘Demons’ (Radiator)
‘Do Or Die’ (Guerrilla)
‘Hermann Loves Pauline’ (Radiator)
‘She’s Got Spies’ (Radiator)
‘Sex War And Robots’ (Phantom Power)
‘Y Teimlad’ (Mwng)
‘Arnofio / Glo In The Dark’ (Outspaced)
‘Night Vision’ (Guerrilla)
‘Mountain People’ (Radiator)
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Super Furry Animals
Furries Rule
I've loved them ever since I saw God! Show me magic on the ITV saturday morning chart show way back when. As suggested above they're a joy live.
You've got Hello Sunshine on your compilation twice, and no "Down a different river".....
Ha!
Wrong on both counts!
x
9. If you jusge a band by their audience, there is none better
Every SFA gig I've been too has contained the sexiest and coolest looking crowd of any gig I've ever been too.
Also, you forgot Dacw Hi, that should shirley be on the mix tape, it's the best song on Mwng
...
I don't think they've been that great for a while now. Since 'Mwng' they've become quite conventional and more like the ordinary indie bands they sounded so different from back in the late 90s. I haven't really listened to the last two albums that much, but some of 'Rings Around the World' verges on self parody.
The band who held my hand...
as I ventured like a shivering virgin into this lark known as music. I love them.
i think
this is the most correct any journalist has ever been. i salute you Gareth. And now i REALLY want to see them live again.
this is a great article
Super Furries were the first band I ever loved. Back in 1996 when I was 17 years old they put out Hometown Unicorn and it basically changed everything I felt about music. Up until that moment I didn't realise that music could provide so much enjoyment.
They have indeed been amazingly consistent and only Love Kraft has disappointed me a little.
Can't wait to see them at the Roundhouse.
AWESOME BAND.
Awesome to see
someone obsessing over their favourite band, and SFA are def worthy of the praise! Not so sure myself they surpass The Beatles and The Beach Boys best work but undoubtedly more consistent than The Beach Boys (anyone heard the 80's output? Argh!). On the whole: lovely stuff!
Wonderful band
Thinking about it, maybe the best British band of the last 10 years or so.
Rings Around the World is my favourite of theirs still. Hell, I even like Love Kraft!
I seem to be one of the few people on DiS that like Love Kraft
for starters I think that Zoom! is one of the best Track 1s of any album I own. And it arguably has the most consistent mood throughout its length of any album they've released - it feels more complete.
Methinks you exaggerate a slight bit
but I caught onto SFA late in their game. Americans wouldn't know SFA from Manic Street Preachers. I dunno why we sometimes miss some of yer guys's best stuff... and honorable mention should go to Rhy's solo stuff (actually I only have one of these) because Welsh peoples talk/sing funny! ;)
most overrated band on the planet
and only amazing if you don't know much about music. They're 'ok' but not messianic or anything, not by a long chalk. All you need are the obsure post Smiley Smile albums, mid period ELO, a bit of Roy Wood, Os Mutantes and knowledge of the Radiophonic Workshop BANG! Instant SFA.
You've missed Golden Retriever off your mixtape...
:P
Seriously, that's such a brilliant pop song that it's not even funny.
Yes but
if you described a band to me like that i'd definitely want to hear them. it doesn't matter that they're a mesh of different influences does it?
they are
the best 'singles' band since the cure. album after album have failed to impress me...but oh my word the singles are always amazing.
Marry me Gareth.
I'm trying to think of ways to fault that playlist but I really can't, you've even included Arnofio/Glo in the Dark. I'd substitute Juxtaposed (never liked it) for Sidewalk Serfer Girl which I declared to my bored parents as the best song ever in 2001, and still stand by.
alternate furries mixtape
1 lazy life 2 the teacher 3 fix idris 4 liberty belle 5 don't be a fool, billy 6 the placid casual 7 the undefeated 8 pan ddaw'r wawr 9 crynood yn dy lais 10 if you don't want me to destroy you 11 alternate route to vulcan street 12 frequency 13 the piccolo snare 14 gathering moss 15 for now and ever
Aside from the 1st two albums..
...it's all a bit mediocre. There's great tracks on every album but you have to sift through a lot of dullness to get to them.
I think i've seen them live more times than any other band, by virtue of them playing every single festival ever. They've got less exciting in that department too!
they wrote loads of fillers too.
cant believe they are still writing songs like "show your hand", fucking brian wilson beach music. best british band ? hell, no.
Alt playlist...again
1. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
2. Frisbee
3. Turning Tide
4. Keep the cosmic trigger happy
5. Fuzzy Birds
6. God! Showed me magic
7. Calimero
8. Receptacle for the respectable
9. Y Gwyneb Iau
10. Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)
They didn't release a bad
song for about 5 albums straight, including b sides. My deciding factor in going to Cardiff Uni was my SFA obsession, which now seems a little weird looking back, but never mind, it was fun.
But now they seem a little dull, on record at least. Zoom! is a great track, but for the past couple of albums they seem stuck in this beach boys worship zone and have forgotten/abandoned all the mad little punky bits which used to punctuate their albums and made them extra-great. Seriously, SFA at their best piss on the beach boys, why turn yourselves into a tribute act?
Still probably my favourite band ever though, despite hardly listening to them anymore.
Zoom!
Agreed, Zoom completely blew me away the first time I heard it, and still does every time. And the album is pretty great too, they have never released a 'bad' album, even if some don't quite match up to the quality of others.
SFA OK!!!
Amazing band! have been with me through thick and thin always there with a killer tune to cheer you up! One of my ambitions is to following the route of Valet Parking around eastern Europe! Long Live SFA!!!
well its sad that they turn into beach boys pastiche band..
agreed, first 4-5 albums were truly great.
I remember
when they appeared in Actua Soccer. now that was the height of cool.
Now I need to rekindle my love with both the game and the band.
They hated that
because the idiot developers filled out the rest of the team with members completely out of place with the SFA ethos, like Ghengis Khan ffs!
I maintain
that it's indicative that we live in a world going wrong that SFA aren't the biggest band on the planet. No other band has their scope, their vision, their joie de vivre, their unholy, unparalleled prolific work ethos nor their consistant (10:0 if we simply talk albums) hit:shit ratio. The only band I know who put on a better live show are the Flaming Lips and they're both American and fucking loaded - I doubt highly they make the losses on putting on a show like SFA do time after time just because they love what they do.
If SFA existed 40 years ago, the Beatles and the Beach Boys would be a footnote in musical history.
haha forgot about that!
and i also just remembered that they sponsered cardiff city's shirts once as well. brilliant.
Dacw Hi & Slow Life...
...already (correctly) identified as surprising omissions from the mix-tape, another one being Ohio Heat (Love Kraft).
Slow Life
More ideas/brilliance in its several minutes than many bands achieve across an album.
You've got to love any song sung through a helmet too.
I thoroughly applaud this thread.
Venus and Serena
In my mind at least they are the best band over the last 15 years or so. Amazing live.
Also, is it just me or is 'Venus and Serena' one of the best things they've ever done?
Another genius song!
That's why it's impossible to make a definitive mix CD cos there are far too many good songs to put on it!
Heart
Love it - must of seen them 15 times since 1999
Remember the van in audience incident at glasto '99 - YEAH
Glad someone agrees with me
Part of me does wish though that they could get their Beach Boys fixation out of their system.
Best band of the decade
is by no means a rich statement. Its true. They are still going strong and they dont do filler songs in my opinion. I say to anyone give Love Kraft another go - i personally enjoyed the vocal contributions from other members of the band. Okay so its not quite as inventive as Guerilla but its more moody and a very mellow album. Bring on the long talked of techno album too - i think they will be brilliant at it.
best band ever...
love that mixtape, i'd also add:
Calimero
Guacamole
Out Of Control
Play It Cool
Slow Life
Smokin'
To the tune of
The Welsh National Anthem mashed with the A-Team theme. Oh fucking YES.
i really really REALLY dislike them
end of debate.
^^ Well I dislike your mum
but I still like to fuck her now and again.
SFA OK!
end of debate
HUSH IT, YOU
You're on holiday.
I emmigrated
so I could see them
Great piece.
I am totally gay for SFA.
I am now also totally gay for Gareth for writing such an excellent article.
I have not listened to them in too long
I am now going to put every album on while I work and enjoy them.
Also just started downloading the reggae compilation guto compiled for trojan. If its anything like under the influence it will be great.
LAZY LIFE OF NO FIXED IDENTITY!!!!!
I love you furry fan. I thought I was the onnly one who loved that song.
NOBODY REALIZES WE JUST DANCED DANCED DANCED TO THE MIDNIGHT TRANCE
I'm listening to the whole discography and I can frankly say they're the greatest band of the decade. Too many good songs, too many witty lyrics and luscious melodies- just the best thing since sliced bread. Wish they came to Italy to see them live. ROME LOVES SFA.
Everbody should buy three copies of Hey Venus! and give them the #1 album they always deserved.
Lies!
If the Super Furries bore you, you clearly have no taste, no soul or no sense of humour. Best British band since the Beatles!
You bastards...
Love Kraft IS their best work. I'm so tired of people dissing it without ANY justification. They just say "it's their worst" without ever really saying why.
Well that's because
they were expecting something other than what they got and their feeble minds couldn't handle it. Maybe they were expecting it to be more upbeat like the usual SFA fare? It was the same deal when Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky" came out. But now the more intelligent among us rank it up there with their best work.
But back to SFA - Yes! I totally agree that Love Kraft is their best and this list is bullshit. Zoom!, Cabin Fever, Cloudberries,Atomik Lust, Frequency... none of these made the mix? You're going to say that Zoom and Cabin Fever aren't their very best work? They're fools and it's prob cuz of aholes like them that we got another forced retread typical SFA album - "Hey Venus!"
The furries are much better when they don't listen to their fans.
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