Is it just me or is there something in the air? Something rather familiar but definitely exciting? All of a sudden life seems that little bit more enjoyable, there’s a spring in your step and nothing can bring you down. Is it? Could it be? Yep, you guessed it: it’s that feeling any discerning music fan gets when there’s a new Super Furry Animals album in the offing. And a new album means the joys of seeing these infectious (purely in an entertainment sense, you understand – I’m not suggesting for a moment that any member of the band has any sort of contagious disease) Welshmen play a selection of their tremendous canon of songs live.
Aside from some preceding Cardiff club dates, Super Furry Animals the band haven’t actually played live together since last August. As Gruff states, since they last played London there have been “two babies, four solo projects and a new record”, but in front of a rather sweaty ICA crowd there is not even a hint of rustiness in what turns out to be a thoroughly enjoyable, textbook Super Furries show. From start to finish, the overwhelming enthusiasm that engulfes the audience from the stage suggests that the Welshmen are revelling being back in each other’s company. Needless to say, the enthusiasm is returned in kind.
A rousing version of ‘Slow Life’ kicks things off, made all the more [ahem] ‘powerful’ half way through when Gruff puts down his harmonica in favour of a huge red Power Rangers helmet, and, in a particularly surreal moment even for the Super Furries, proceeds to sing through the eye of his new giant head. ‘Rings Around The World’ and ‘Golden Retriever’ follow, and despite jokingly declaring that the band intend to play side one of new album ‘Hey Venus!’ before returning to play side two, the majority of the performance is a pretty much standard Super Furries set – perhaps unsurprising given that this is largely a festival warm up show.
They do, however, include six new numbers that they play consecutively. And do you know what? Not only do they fit in seamlessly alongside the familiar material, they all sound great too. ‘The Gateway Song’, which they declare to be the shortest they’ve ever written, is a 30 second burst of glam rock that declares, “Once you get hooked, you can’t get enough”. And with more of a pop-rock feel to them than recent albums ‘Phantom Power’ and ‘Love Kraft’, the new songs definitely seem to be of the class that might just get you hooked. ‘Run-Away’ is apparently the band’s attempt to “bring yodelling back to the lexicon of rock’n’roll” with its big, melodic chorus and, in fact, big choruses seem to be the order of the day for the forthcoming ‘Hey Venus!’. ‘Show Your Hand’ (“a song about gambling”) is a glorious 60’s inspired sing-along with hints of ‘Baby Love’ and ‘Good Vibrations’ and Gruff on acoustic guitar, while the more psychedelic ‘Neo-Consumer’ also begs for future crowd participation with a chorus that goes something along the lines of “Oh oh oh whoa-oh oh oh oh oh”. The rockier ‘Into The Night’ and the groovy ‘Gift That Keeps Giving’ provide Gruff with an opportunity to test out his falsetto and both utilise typical Super Furry Animals harmonies, the latter of which, according to the front man, will be their “Christmas single”. It all sounds very promising…
The rest of the show is made up of old favourites, but they are delivered with aplomb and there is certainly no sign of the band getting bored of playing them. Perhaps the loudest cheers of the night are reserved for ‘Mwng’s ‘Nythod Cacwn’ and ‘Fuzzy Logic’s ‘God Show Me Magic’. Some novelty is injected into proceedings with surprise guest Wendy Flower (from Wendy and Bonnie, whose ‘By The Sea’ is sampled at the beginning of the song) duetting on ‘Hello Sunshine’, by a reworking of ‘Northern Lites’ in the style of Teenage Fanclub and by Gruff taking on Paul McCartney’s ‘food’ role and munching on crisps during ‘Receptacle for the Respectable’. The band, in fact, make a point of playing at least one track of each of their seven previous studio albums, with highlights including an anthemic ‘Juxtapose With U’ (complete with vocal effects for the verses) and final trio ‘Do Or Die’, ‘Ice Hockey Hair’ and ‘The Man Don’t Give A Fuck’, during which Gruff and guitarist Bunf engage in some outrageous guitar sparring. Whatever they play, though, each song is delivered with verve and the band sound as tight as ever.
As far as live performances go, you don’t get much more entertaining than your average Super Furry Animals gig and this one is no different. It’s in everything from the giant Power Rangers helmet to the crisps, the vocal effects to the sparring guitars. Most importantly, though, it’s in the songs. The Super Furries make music that can be experimental on record, but live asks nothing more of its audience than to be enjoyed. And they pull at all off with an irresistible combination of boyish enthusiasm and rock star cool. As always, it sure is good to have them back.
****
First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.
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