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Album Details

• Artist: Super Furry Animals
• Album: Phantom Power
• Label: XL
• Year of Release: 2003
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: jparker on 2003-09-03

After the Super Furry Animals' last CD, 2001's Rings Around The World (whose North American release was ridiculously delayed until 2002), I was a bit worried about them. That album was such a brilliant success - where else could they go but down? Fortunately, on Phantom Power, they've gone sideways - maintaining the finely honed hallmarks of the Super Furry sound, but in a more subtly nuanced album. Happily, it was released the same time as the UK version, so fans won't have to spring for a pricey import. So what are the Super Furry hallmarks? There's the radio-friendly hit single: this time, it's "Golden Retriever," two and a half minutes of sizzling blues-rock with the instant appeal of Blur's "Song 2" - in the UK, anyway. The lyrics might put off the North American beer-commercial crowd who wouldn't know a roundabout from a zebra cross. My bet for second single would be "Venus and Serena", an uplifting jangle not at all about the tennis-playing sisters. There's the gently soaring ballad: "Sex, War, and Robots," whose title jars with the song's lovely pedal steel and backing strings; and "City Scape Sky Baby," where Gruff Rhys' vocals have a depth and range that should convert many listeners to fans. There's tongue-in-cheek heavy metal: on the last album, the end of "Receptacle for The Respectable" rivaled WASP for death-metal over-the-topness, this time it's "Out of Control," a power-chord romp with Slade simplicity. There's playful faux-jazz: "Valet Parking" marries a tropicalia rhythm with a fusion guitar lead - yet it doesn't suck! How many bands could pull that off? And lastly, there's the defining hallmark of SFA - playful experimentation. The eight songs I haven't yet mentioned mix Beatles basslines and strings with eerie Radiohead electronics, slick '70s production with clicks and cuts, and steel drums with soccer chants. Not only does it work, after a few listens it seems perfectly natural. But what can they possibly do next?

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