It’s halfway between an EP and an LP and, as with 2000’s “Mwng”, most of us won’t understand a damned of word of it, but Super Furry frontman Gruff Rhys’ solo debut, “Yr Atal Genhedlaeth”, is a joy from start to finish. Translated as “The Stuttering Generation”, this homemade album (it was recorded in about a week at long-time producer Gorwel Owen’s studio) represents the sound of Rhys cutting loose to play. Always an interesting proposition for one whose day job regularly involves putting on a Yeti costume.
And if the production is not as sumptuous as a Furry’s album – although it’s by no means lo-fi – thematically it’s business as usual. Gruff cocks an absurdist eye at the world and an absurdist world glances back. The results are two-chord pop gems like “Y Gwybodusion” (which revolves around the cryptic Q&A: “Where are the experts? Looking for answers…”) or “Epynt”, which weighs up the British obsession with € Vs £ only to conclude we should probably just rid ourselves of money anyway.
Gruff’s tongue remains firmly in his cheek throughout, but these are fully realised songs, not some “Democrazy”-style vanity project. The melodies are so strong that the language is hardly an issue, never mind a barrier. At times it’s achingly beautiful – the delicately touching “Pwdin Way 2” or the conclusion to “Ambell Waith” where Edwin Humphries’ trumpet punctuates some gorgeously multi-tracked harmonies - at others it’s just bouncy/throwaway pop as on the “We Are The World” pastiche “Ni Yw Y Bd”.
But what’s not to love with an album that includes the song titles “Egg Pudding Pt 1” or “When Play Turns Sour” (“Pwdin Wy 1” and “Chwarea’n Troi’n Chwerw”)? Or features a song about two fictional MCs battling it out with bows and arrows and pouring beer on their cornflakes (“Gwn Mi Wn”). Lick that, Goldie Lookin’ Chain.
Until the next Super Furries record – being mixed in Brazil at last report - this will do just fine.
A curiosity, but no curate’s egg.
