Guerrilla
Whatever is said about them, no one can level the accusation that Super Furry Animals are one-trick ponies. These Welsh rare bits are capable of following the most glorious pop moments with a large dollop of techno, drum 'n' bass and whatever you're having yourself, bosco.
John Walshe
Whatever is said about them, no one can level the accusation that Super Furry Animals are one-trick ponies. These Welsh rare bits are capable of following the most glorious pop moments with a large dollop of techno, drum 'n' bass and whatever you're having yourself, bosco.
From the oblique lounge opening of 'Check It Out', through the manic pop thrillsmithery of 'Do Or Die', to the demented techno-meets-ragga of 'Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)', these Animals are wild, raucous and, most of all, joyous. There's an upbeat, joie de vivre about almost all of Guerrilla that's hard to resist.
'Night Vision' comes on like a sonic Duane Eddie before mutating into a gloriously soaring cartoon punk-pop anthem. Current single 'Northern Lites' is unashamedly happy, with a bouncing brass section adding a slightly Caribbean flavour to the proceedings. And when they slow it down, they write songs to put the current crop of teenage balladeers to shame. 'Fire In My Heart' is as wide-eyed, naive and wonderful as anything they've done to date.
'The Turning Tide' is simply gorgeous, before they add all sorts of odd sound effects into the mix just to confound matters. In fact, there's a prolonged knocking noise half way through that convinced this listener that he'd finally pissed off the neighbours by overdoing it on the volume.
'The Door To This House Remains Open' is drum 'n' bass overlaid on a helium-fuelled chorus that can't help but grab the listener's full attention. 'Chewing Chewing Gum' mixes Future Sound Of London with old-style swing, while 'The Teacher' and 'Keep The Cosmic Trigger Happy' hark back to the exuberant pop of The Small Faces.
Much more than pop tarts, the Furries have the substance and the experimental edge to earn themselves a longer shelflife than many would have predicted.
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