Super Furry Animals : S/D

So yeah, great great band -- I think they haven't made a bad album yet and they've had some just killer singles over the year. However, having seen them twice this year (Arthur -- don't ask but I somehow got into the show earlier this month by the skin of the teeth!), I think they should pull a Steely Dan/XTC and quit the road. Both shows were solid without being flat out truly wonderful, and nobody in the band seemed really thrilled, and a lot of the detail in their songs is either lost or a bit crushed live. But maybe they just need to shake things up a bit in general!

Search - The Man Don't Give A Fuck, Mountain People, Run Christian Run, Gathering Moss, Play It Cool, Smoking, Ice Hockey Hair, Juxtaposed With U, a lot of Mwng, Some Things Come From Nothing, Bad Behaviour, God Show Me Magic, hell, most of them.

Destroy - The first song on Mwng, Shoot Doris Day, Fire In My Heart, Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home), the drum'n'bass one on Guerilla.

If you can't get to Notting Hill, some of the rare early stuff is on Out Spaced, which works very well as an album as compilations go.

Anyway,
Search: "Hermann Loves Pauline" and "Ice Hockey Hair", at least. Come on, people, your life will not be complete if you fail to heed this advice. Everything else they've ever done.
Destroy: Oh alright, "The Man Don't Give A Fuck". You're not having anything else, though, this band is one of the greats.

What the...? First time I've heard anybody dissatisfied with a SFA gig; let alone two. The detail was "a bit crushed live"? Those guys are meticulous about every last utterance and effect...

Their 2002 US tour was glorious... even if it was toned down from their UK set.

They're all among my favourite SFA songs! Well, I can live without FIMH but the rest of 'em fock, esp WILMP(TMH). So there.

Search: The Turning Tide, Receptacle For The Respectable, It's Not The End Of The World, Northern Lites, Some Things Come From Nothing, Ice Hockey Hair, God Show Me Magic!, and ooh.. lots more.

Destroy: International Language Of Screaming, Alternate Route To Vulcan Street.

Great Furries Songs - Play it Cool, Northern Lites, The Turning Tide, Something For the Weekend, It's not the End of the World, Download, and many more.

Overall though, I think SFA just seem uncomfortable playing live in general. One of the things they're afraid to try, IMHO, is to make the live shows more raw, stripped down, and lacking all the colors, characters, and video/tech hoopla. Everyone agrees that their best moments live were the songs they added to the set last minute without any video accompaniment.

I had a chance to see them a few weeks ago, but I turned it down, because I figured it would be the same thing... and, as Ned hinted, it was.

Maybe SFA should just pull an XTC.

End of fucking story.

Back to the crux of the thread, pick up Radiator and Rings Around the World, and you're in a world of musical joy.

And of course they palyed Mountain People and the Man Don't Give A Fuck. I'm not sure there's any of their albums I don't like. Definitly some less fine moments on all of them but basically all good. Possibly they'll release a Greatest hits album that will be really great.

Destroy: you don't want me to destroy you, surely?

Destroy:
I can't bring to mind a single rubbish SFA song. But FUZZY LOGIC
and RINGS AROUND THE WORLD must have a few.

Destroy: Actually, by now I don't think much of "The Man Don't Give a Fuck", although I'm sure it's a headbanger at live shows.

Absolutely one of the greatest bands of all time.

Destroy: absolutely nothing. Mr Snrub OTM.

Turn up early for Zabrinski as well, they're a good band and good guys.

One of the LPs has a seven inch single hidden in the gatefold front sleeve part. This contains a 'lock groove' the contents of which I don't know.

I first heard "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" live, actually. They had a video synced to it, too, with Lenin and Stalin inciting crowds. It FUCKING SMOKED.

What gets in the way of it being utterly perfect for me is that there's a certain jokiness about the songs which feels like it's trying to be both earnest *and* an escape clause, like if it's straight earnest then the post-Britpop crowd would become suspicious (this especially marrs the otherwise great "Wherever I Lay My Phone...". Which is a shame because I can sort of see the band gesturing towards A.R. Kane I territory at times, and the moments I love are those which just sound too emotional, cracking with big big feelings ("Turning Tide", "Northern Lites"). But the sonic largesse and the emotional largesse don't seem to co-incide all that often.

I have a feeling I might like Mwyng. What would people suggest?

"Mwng", of course, is their no-frills album. Almost none of the sonic largesse that's in abundance on their previous albums. Relative to their other work, it's always sounded flat to me. So much of the fun of SFA is hearing them effortlessly morph a ballad into a techno track.

I think you have also just described the Orb! (Simon Reynolds I think said something similar about them back in 1993.)

Ned would i like Radiator do you think?

Wow I'm so indie at the moment!

should write about some of it on skykicking

Also check out the newly released Am Byth by Ffa Coffi Pawb. Pre-SFA band with Gruff and Daf. Catchy tunes and well worth purchasing. It reveals that Gruff had an unnatural Jesus & Mary Chain obsession tho...

SEARCH: EVERYTHING
DESTROY: TMDGAF Live single

i mean, if you can ignore 'it's not the end of the world' and 'presidential suite'

I got into them when RAtW came out, so I can't really see where deflatormouse is coming from. I do agree they're a bit sterile live, however.

Also, maybe the songwriting on Hey Venus! and Dark Days/Light Years isn't up to par with the earlier albums, but it seemed like they were starting to move towards a less polished sound on those two albums.

"idg what makes RATW less adventurous than the previous albums."

I wrote a very long post in the 'ALL CAPS' SFA thread that touched on this. I think my primary complaint was "not as cool" as their previous albums (going soft) rather than "not as adventurous". But certainly also less adventurous in that on RATW they established a stylistic continuity from album-to-album for the first time and began to disengage from the musical conversation of the moment.

What they'd lost, in a word, was urgency.

I agree that their two Rough Trade albums took steps to address all this (I think quite deliberately), and I agree that they weren't up to snuff.

FWIW I wasn't that into Fuzzy Logic when it came out. I bought it and listened but wasn't all that taken with it until I went back and listened to it in late '97 with Radiator as my Rosetta Stone.

I really rather like DD/LY, if we ignore the existence of 'Mt.'

I mean, they gave plenty of lethargic performances when they were touring behind Radiator and Guerrilla where they were too stoned to stand up. Literally, on at least one occasion. And that was pretty fucking cool, actually.
They were not always energetic and enthusiastic. But in everything they did, they confronted the "now".

ha i don't rate phantoms that highly, and hold post phantoms at meh, but ratw is a creativity highlight that is more than retropsych imo. its not just retro and its not just psych, tho i have a soft spot for both.

Always thought 'psych' was a misnomer for SFA actually, as they've shown a lot more interest in soul textures and dance music production.

" ratw is a creativity highlight that is more than retropsych imo. its not just retro and its not just psych"

ok, why/why not??

I won't assume that "not just retro" = techno, but the techno breaks feel gratuitous and tacked on to me this time around and don't transcend the novelty emelent IMO, where on the previous two releases there was a seamless structural and stylistic integration with electronic experiments forming the basis for several tracks on Guerilla.

so wtev has taken over the SFA ballot poll for me, this now looks like it will be coming up soon...

ILM Ballot Polls for 2020 and beyond -- the ordering, timing, "I would have voted if I'd known about it," etc

The b-side reminded me of this gem. Bunf's kind of underrated, imo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcYSvCKYUTM

Bit of an odd voice. Maybe not a great voice. He seems to be the guy in the band who's just a little less polished & a bit more adventurous than the rest, and you can really hear it when he strikes out on his own.

Sort of fascinated by how different Gruff looks in this footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbEnvo0fh08

He was rocking dreads a few years earlier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdcHQ9HHu8U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viFmKsBxSbc

I'm kind of digging this stuff right now. Never gave it much time.

I saw SFA at a small (for them) club in Portland on the Hey Venus tour. 2008? 2009?

I was friends with the promoter, who knew that I was a huge fan, and as a result I found myself in their dressing room after the show.

This was notable for a few reasons:

First of all, they had a full DJ setup going... like, two turntables, PA, crates of records, and the band members were just taking turns spinning jams for themselves and their friends on this comically overpowered system in a dressing room slightly larger than a typical US hotel room.

And... there were bowls of weed *everywhere*. Not bowls as in pipes, or cereal bowls... but, like, the big metal mixing bowls you find in a restaurant kitchen, just *filled* with weed, like a half dozen of them. I've honestly never seen more marijuana anywhere on earth.

I ended up getting what was almost certainly the most stoned I've ever been in my entire life as SFA joyously spun records for hours, geeking out with them on their albums, laughing hysterically. It was the best time ever. SFA OK.

That's a great story. Their legendary weed consumption comes up in this documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKT67LyDKvU

There's a small feature in the new Uncut. Cian basically says Das Koolies is the new band as far as he is concerned and not a side project. They have no plans to record a new SFA album and Das Koolies is their main focus. They apparently have enough material for three albums, of course they always say that kind of shit. Anyway, I guess you could read into the "new band" thing in a couple ways.

"It's not a side project, it's not a gap-filler, it's not something we're doing because we're waiting to do Super Furries things again. This is what we do now, basically."

Very much up for this album despite not caring for the single

How'd you like the B-side--if you've heard it?

Er, not blown away either but it's early days

Super Furry Ifans

https://superfurryanimals.bandcamp.com/track/of-no-fixed-identity

“Apathy only ruined me”!?

So, wait, have we never done an ILM artist poll of these guys?

Looks like the four lads, minus Gruff, are set to release some more stuff as Das Koolies. Posting some snips and snaps on their social media. I have to say I’m more interested in it than the new Gruff LP. Been a while since the other guys had their time to shine and I liked the first couple tracks well enough.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1349013979279758?mibextid=0NULKw&fs=e&s=TIeQ9V

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/the-condemned-das-koolies/ouo028rq7ieea

Sounds like this is going to be a good antidote to Gruff’s sleepy balladeer persona.

So, wait, have we never done an ILM artist poll of these guys?

― Naive Teen Idol

I will do SFA in 2023. Was almost going to do it last year but opted to do the Police instead. I just feel like I'm going to need to prepare to do it properly.

i'm looking forward to that eventual poll

Awesome! Yeah, they’re a lot of work, done properly. There aren’t too many bands with as big of a catalogue we haven’t done at this point. Should be super exciting.

Also looking forward to that.

Me too. I've heard 80% of their output but been meaning to do a comprehensive listen through everything at some point

Fifth'd. They're one of my favourite bands ever

Well lads I lost interest many years back but you made me listen to Bad Behaviour this morning so fair play

They hit a wall when they recorded Love Kraft and Hey Venus!, but I’ll be damned if DD/LY isn’t one of their best albums as I view their great back catalog with loving eyes. It’s fun, a little shaggier, less rehearsed and clever. I so wish they’d known some folks really rated that album. I cherish it so much more than any Gruff Rhys solo album.

I’m ready for Das Koolies.

And as far as I’m concerned,Love Kraft has some righteously moody and endearing songs. They put a really odd, not very good single on it, a song based on a demo they’d been tossing around since the Guerrilla days- “Lazer Beam.”
Knock that and a couple other silly songs off the track list and the album’s got quite an interesting vibe.

Love Kraft and a Hey Venus! both have some really good tracks, but are very uneven and have some cringy moments. Agree that DD/LY is amazing and among their best.

DD/LY has Mt. on it, which might be one of the worst songs by an otherwise good band in the history of music, but the rest is good yes

right, I've actually skipped that one so often that I actually forgot it existed

“Mt.”‘isn’t great but Cian’s two post-SFA albums 12 people have listened to contain some pretty good, if not excellent, songs. I thought the non-Gruff guys were starting to write some pretty good songs in general, like “White Socks/Flip Flop.” Might’ve not carried the whole album, but always a treat when it comes on.

at the other end of the scale, guess which song invariably comes into my head every time I take a European city break, or go to Croydon

https://www.qobuz.com/nz-en/album/the-condemned-das-koolies/bzcatc2zmop5a

Looks like Das Koolies are finally a thing. New EP next month. Single tonight.

1.The Condemned 00:05:40
2. Dim Byd Mawr 00:07:22
3.You Killed My Robot 00:03:42
4. Grab a Slice 00:05:11

Might be the only person hyped as fuck for this right now, but I've been dying for some new SFA material since about 2009 so I'm going to take it.

I haven’t listened to it in a while, but I remember liking a lot of Lovekraft, especially the slower more introspective numbers. Didn’t like Lazerbeam or whatever and I always skipped Back On A Roll. Hated that song. l

Walk you home is a bop

"Back on a Roll" is a low light, but I generally really dig Bunf's songs. His voice is weird.

Love Kraft has great bookends and I do actually quite like Lazer Beam but much of the rest feels kind of bloated and anaemic. Hey Venus is anaemic without even being bloated, which is worse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL9Y2_4ztKM

As close to SFA as we’re going to get

SFA produced some great songs not fronted by Gruff. have yet to hear anything that rises above mediocrity from Das Koolies, though

I find some comfort hearing them pull out some of their tropes on that track, but it’s bubblegum at best. I dig it. Glad they didn’t pull a Boo Radleys and try to continue the facade of being the same band.

Another Ffa Coffi Pawb re-issue coming:

https://gruffrhys.bandcamp.com/album/dalec-peilon-2

Also (in semi-related news), Pete Fowler's Seahawks released a really nice album last week - that's the one I'd spend the dollars on if I had to pick between the two: https://oceanmoon.bandcamp.com/album/time-enough-for-love