Super Furry Animals

August 2, 2006


By: Larry Queen


Make it number seven for Welsh band Super Furry Animals. Love Kraft (Sony/BMG) was released on August 22. And, it just may be their most fully realized work so far.

A futuristic, psychedelic shockwave, Love Kraft is an excursion of mercurial and inventive brilliance. Across the board, the album is awash in the afterglow of The Zombies, Pink Floyd, and even the Beach Boys rife with sliding guitars, and strings that set about constructing a massive wall of sound that, in the end, is all Super Furry Animals.

But beneath that delirious concoction is an undercurrent of something they began to only hint at on their last studio outing, Phantom Power. On that album, the song "Love, Sex, and Robots," sublimely flirted with the '60's and '70's Americana of The Byrds, and Flying Burrito Brothers, which appears, at times, to come into full flower on Love Kraft. And, although it's just another element in a vast sea of textures that comprise the material on this record, it greatly advances the quieter, yet cohesive nature of their songwriting that has so eloquently revealed itself on this release.

"This album is probably the result of touring America about three years ago in a pick-up van," says Super Furry Animals' guitarist, Huw Bunford (a.k.a. Bunf), from his home in the South of London neighborhood, West Norwood. "That was our first round trip of America. Songs like "Ohio Heat" [from the new album] would have that gritty, Americana musical influence.

"We tend to go through these sort of episodes, and, sometimes, they're music episodes," Bunf continues. "You don't really go in the following week and regurgitate what you're listening to. It takes, for us, maybe a few years for it to come through. We've got a lot [of information] to get out of our system as well, as far as experimentation goes."

The band, founded in 1994, has enjoyed large success at home in the U.K. at least on the Charts, if not in album sales, and I find it interesting that SFA's first proper tour of America didn't occur until 2002.

America, geographically speaking, is an enormous place to try to break into, and can be overwhelming even for those who tour the world over such as SFA. With England, we're talking about an Island.

"It's really quite easy to become famous in Britain. All you have to do is move to London, start a band up, go out with a Supermodel, and take drugs," snorts Bunf, obviously referring to the notoriously drug addled boyfriend of Kate Moss and former Libertine's frontman, Mike Doherty. "No, that's probably being a bit cheeky (chuckles), but it's not the first time that has happened in British culture. You could probably try that in New York, but you'd only end up famous in one part of the city. You'd be quite the celebrity of Greenwich Village, but no one would have heard of you in Brooklyn."

When Bunf; singer, Gryff Rhys; bassist, Cian Ciaran; drummer, Dafydd Ieuan, and keyboardist, Guto Pryce settled into the studio to record Love Kraft they decided to take their time. Since they had produced their last album on their own they wanted to take this opportunity to plumb a range of perspectives.

"I think, in making an album, it's refreshing to get another voice sometimes. Production wise it was good, and it came together really well. Working with (producer) Mario Caldato was a bit more relaxed. We had mixed [Phantom Power] with him before. This time we brought him along to produce. He just kind of made sure we were all in the same room at the same time. He provided some continuity."

Continuity could have been a big issue on Love Kraft. This was the first time the group had experimented with four members all taking on lead vocal duties Bunford, Ieauan, Ciaran, and, of course, Rhys all step up to the mic to sing their respective songs.

"We were wondering how we would actually pan out cohesively," admits Bunf. "Mario got us in together, and I think that was the key to keeping the reigns on the project."

Perhaps one of the most compelling aspects of SFA's music is their willingness, through experimentation, to engage audiences in a continuous dialogue about art and music. The results of such experimental forays always have the potential to be staggeringly beautiful, egregiously pedestrian, or a combination of both. What's crucial is to always be willing to stay the course. But, ultimately, a visceral reaction good or bad is the most satisfying.

"I think that is the best feeling for me," Bunf reflects. "Sometimes records, and I think we're quite guilty of this (chuckling), field songs people either love or hate. That's a good thing, sometimes, to be adamant. You know, if you passionately hate a song, well that's as interesting as passionately liking it."

*This interview was originally published in the Winter Quarter issue of Metro.Pop magazine in Jan. 06*