Super Furry Animals skipped the 'homogenized' path to 'make a detour' into rocking performance art
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
January 31, 2008
In the Super Furry Animals' decade and a half of molding pop gems, the Welch band has demonstrated a willingness to color outside the lines of regular rock formulas and hop off the paths provided by the music industry.
“The whole climate of the music industry is changing, isn't it?” admitted Super Furry guitarist Huw Bunford, aka “Bunf,” during a recent interview on his holiday break in the United Kingdom. “It looks like music is going down a homogenized, one-size-fits-all avenue. So, you either go down that road or get off and make a detour.”
Advertisement Sidestepping is the norm for these rock outsiders. For starters, the band's first EP release holds down the Guinness Book of World Record bragging rights for longest album title, the hopelessly verbose “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (In Space).”
They're one of the few rock bands to sing in Welsh to gain notice in the States (although they mostly sing in English these days). They released a single titled “The Man Don't Give a (Expletive),” which uttered a certain swear word beginning with the letter “f” more than 50 times. Despite no radio airplay, the song reached No. 22 on the U.K. charts.
They scored a cameo from the king of British pop, Paul McCartney, to perform on the 2001 album “Rings Around the World,” then asked Sir Paul to merely chew carrots and celery into a microphone. They produce entire concerts in surround-sound.
DETAILS
Super Furry Animals
When: Saturday, 9 p.m.
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: $18-$20
Phone: (858) 481-8140
Online: bellyup.com
In general, Super Furry Animals don't play by the rules. The band simply sets the rulebook on fire and calls it performance art.
After exploring the nooks and crannies of epic pop anthems in their 2005 opus, “Love Kraft,” these Welsh provocateurs decided to boil down their sound into a dense of wall of psychedelic pop.
“ 'Love Kraft' was a big, indulgent album full of beautiful, sweeping, panoramic songs,” recalled Bunf. “But they weren't short, sharp, in-your-face songs. After we played them live, we realized we'd missed out on some of the shorter songs. We craved a short album. So, this is our shortest album with our shortest song on it.”
Opening with the 43-second snapshot “The Gateway Song,” the rapid-fire delivery of their latest disc, “Hey Venus!,” drips with dense production, Beach Boy harmonies and an ability to stretch the bounds of the pop song format (akin to the work of Phil Spector, McCartney and Brian Wilson four decades before). It has a total length of just under 37 minutes with the longest track (the sweet mellow ballad “Let the Wolves Howl at the Moon”) logging in just under five minutes.
After departing Epic/Sony Records, Bunf and the boys signed a new deal with Rough Trade Records, home of British Sea Power and Belle & Sebastian and the U.K. distributor of American and Canadian acts like Arcade Fire and The Hidden Cameras. Rough Trade honcho Geoff Travis requested the more compact version of Super Furry Animals he heard on the band's albums from the late 1990s.
“This time around, we decided we wanted to do a pop album,” said Bunf. “It was half commissioned and half our own decision. When I say half commissioned, our new record company took far more interest in what we were doing than (our old label) Sony did. This is quite a different experience. So (Travis) said he really liked our early pop albums, and he asked us to do one of those. We said we'd give it a crack.”
Super Furry Animals' cult status is slowly finding a foothold in the U.S., with word of mouth spreading from SFA's elaborate stage shows. The last time through San Diego in 2005, the band played the newly opened House of Blues in support of “Love Kraft.” Complete with a video collage of the entire tour and intricate animation, the large screen served as a backdrop for the band's spot-on recreations of their catalog.
Lead singer Gruff Rhys sported a space helmet with a hole in the top for his microphone. Each band member took turns singing lead. The biggest eye candy came from the iridescent, glow-in-the-dark jumpsuits donned by the entire band.
Look out this time around for suede suits with intricate embroidery matching the “Hey Venus!” album art by Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami when the band plays the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach Saturday night.
“It's always difficult when you go off touring for a long time,” said Bunf. “But that's the nature of the beast, and we're lucky we're doing it. It's great, because you get to do things that other people would love to do. You've got to remember that at the end of the day.”
Super Furry Animals' lineup
Gruff Rhys – vocals, guitar
Huw Bunford – guitar, vocals
Guto Pryce – bass
Cian Ciaran – keyboards, guitar, vocals
Dafydd Ieuan – drums, vocals
Discography
“Fuzzy Logic” (1996, charted No. 23 in the U.K.)
“Radiator” (1997, No. 8 in the U.K.)
“Guerrilla” (1999, No. 10 in the U.K.)
“Mwng” (2000, No. 11 in the U.K.)
“Rings Around the World” (2001, No. 3 in the U.K.)
“Phantom Power” (2003, No. 4 in the U.K.)
“Love Kraft” (2005, No. 19 in the U.K.)
“Hey Venus!” (2007, No. 11 in the U.K.)
RENEWING THEMSELVES WITH SOLO PROJECTS
It's been two years since the last Super Furry Animals album, a time when the band members took time to explore music away from the group decision-making process of the band and the scrutiny of record labels.
Lead singer Gruff Rhys recorded an album of acoustic pop songs titled “Candylion” on Rough Trade in 2007. Keyboardist Cian Ciaran has a side project called Acid Casuals, which released its debut, “Omni,” in 2006. Drummer Dafydd Ieuan formed a group “The Peth,” which recorded during the hiatus.
But the most interesting of the Super Furry Animals solo projects comes from guitarist Huw Bunford. He sculpted atmospheric “soundscapes” from pieced-together field recordings. Taken from airports, trains, buses and backstages during SFA's travels around the world, the ambient snapshots are an audio diary of Bunford's travels.
“I'm interested in field recordings right now, finding music in everyday (activities) on the streets,” said Bunford, whose recordings can be heard at dublab.com. “I use the opportunity of traveling with the band to record. I'm lucky enough to go to places like all over America and Europe and Japan. Instead of a photo journal, it's a sound journal.”
With all the activity away from the band, some might begin to worry about the band's long-term prospects. Bunf sees it as another outlet for creative minds.
“A lot of people might think that it's the beginning of the end, you know?” said Bunford. “But it has more to do with the necessity of keeping mentally sane. It's liberating to be able to do things on your own. You can record something in two days and put it out by the end of the week. With a record company, that kind of thinking doesn't compute.”
– CHRIS NIXON
