The Super Furry Animals are a pop force to be reckoned with. It’s just surprising that they haven’t been reckoned with more. Perhaps it’s less startling when taking into account their all-Welsh-language album Mwng, or the fact that the band has a propensity for dressing as yetis when performing. Regardless, Super Furry Animals return with Phantom Power two years after their last effort, Rings Around the World. Yeti suits or no, SFA are still going strong on album No. 7.
Uber-patriots need not apply. Inches out of the gate, SFA set the mood with “Hello Sunshine” with the repeated, “In honesty / it’s been a while / since we had reason / left to smile.” A charming opener full of country slide and twang, “Hello Sunshine” sounds a bit like a pumped up version of Beck’s Sea Change (2002). It’s the dark tone of social dissatisfaction set in a beautifully crafted sconce.
“Liberty Bell” lends a bit of clarity. There is little doubt that lines in the passage “Drowning in your oil wells / as the ashes fly from New York City / past the grimy clouds of burnt New Jersey / past the kids who smoke like chimneys” were deliberately put next to one another. It’s not an all-out condemnation of the United States; it’s the sad state of the world. The band sketches a circle between the fires of aggression, profiteering and the individual, and does it almost offhandedly.
As long as a listener aspires to nothing higher than head-bobbing, Phantom Power will please at every turn. The music is the real celebration here anyway.
While the majority of Phantom Power keeps a fairly mid-tempo pace, SFA still manage to rock hard when necessary. “Golden Retriever” is irresistible, throbbing with an offbeat guitar line and lots of toms. The song also showcases some gorgeous production tricks. At one point the ascending harmony vocals sound like they are drowning and then digested by a jet plane.
Likewise, “Out of Control” sets up a hard rock guitar riff, then dives into a far darker-sounding verse. Eventually Gruff Rhys breaks in over the original riff, repeating the title. The effect is strangely AC/DC but still moody and textured.
Phantom Power‘s bulk is decidedly contemplative though. “Father Father Number 1” and “Father Father Number 2” are both instrumentals built around an acoustic guitar line. “Slow Life” is the same, but built upon a very interesting string arrangement — more odd chromatic hijinx and less of the holding onto one note that’s become so prevalent in rock arrangements.
“Sex, War and Robots” gives guitarist Huw Bunford a chance at vocals. More slide guitars and more moody production tricks set the stage and disguise Bunford’s cryptic lines “20/20 vision to see” and “I programmed robots to make them lie” before resolving to “If tears could kill / I’d be a long time gone.” The track has a sound between Burt Bacharach and Archers of Loaf, in the best way possible, giving fellow costume fans The Flaming Lips a run for their money.
There is a distinctly pop-country twang to the album, but Super Furry Animals haven’t lost their sense of exploration. “Valet Parking” gives up the mad beats, full of vocals that dodge from right to left and punctuated with fuzzed-out guitar lines. “The Undefeated” sports the authentic gunshots and automotive sounds of South Wales, then launches into a reggae jaunt with an island solo. Whether “Venus and Serena” is actually about the infamous sisters or (as the liner notes claim) about a boy raised by wolves with two pet turtles is completely up to the listener to decide.
Any way you split it up, Phantom Power brims with insight and never takes itself too seriously. Often the album transcends itself by what almost seems to be luck, but Super Furry Animals’ track record makes a case against luck. There is method here, collected from all the band’s previous albums (most notably Rings Around the World, Mwng, and Transformer). For newcomers to the band, it serves as an excellent introduction, mostly because it stands up on its own.
Grade: A/B
