 ‘non
violent. direct action.’ So it says on the back of the album cover
for the latest recording by the fifth best group in Wales, the Super
Furry Animals. The front of the album cover has a big yellow
cycloptic plasticine alien with a telephone dial in his forehead
levitating over a control panel of some sort, smoking a pipe with
his/her other eye coming out of it. I used to really like this band
but it’s this kind of old shit that kind of put the mockers on
them a fair bit for me. That and the fact that Zoe Ball likes them,
the clueless bint that she is (cue posse laughter). They act like
they have this agenda to educate or expand people’s minds but
they’re just too damned out there on home rolled leaf substances
and being bloody Welsh to write it all down on paper, maaaaan. So
they do music and wear anoraks instead.
This album is probably the best
they’ve ever put out (after the surprisingly decent B-sides and
rarities album of last year), it sounds like it cost a few quid more
than usual and they let the knob twiddling bloke (who has quite a
presence with them live) do more of his fair share on most of it.
Admittedly this person of the valley has obviously been ever so
slightly influenced by the likes of Mouse On Mars and older Mike
Paradinas/Uziq stuff but that’s no bad thing really as it serves
to break up the formula by which the Super Furry Animals so
routinely stick to – Slow Song – Punky Song – Sounds A Bit
Like ELO Song – Wasn’t That The Theme Tune To The Darts In The
‘70’s Song? The overall impression that I got from listening to
this record though is that of a quite obsessive studio band trying
to sound zonked out and meaningful at the same time. Sadly the key
word in that sentence is ‘trying’. There is never a real sense
that these people are really letting go as much as they’d like to
have you think. They’re great mates with the bloke who played
Spike in ‘Notting Hill’ and there’s certain parallels to be
drawn from that in so far as he was a stoned out wild, cat on the
face of it but was ultimately very good chums with Hugh Grant. And
he got engaged to your woman out of the ‘Vicar Of Dibley’ at the
end. Same with this record, interesting and cool initially, a bit of
a laugh in places but ultimately quite safe and fashionably Welsh.
If you like them you already have
it because it was out months ago, if you don’t like them then you
are most likely the very proud owner of a Robbie Williams album that
you hide when your mates come round. Either way everyone’s a
winner. ‘non violent. direct action.' Have another toke, but
don’t you dare inhale.
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