The Super Furries have never fallen from grace with the indie fraternity, who receive every transmission from the Welsh five piece with arms open wide. This may be down to their mastery of the art of the psychedelic pop song, their largely unintelligible but consistently intriguing lyrical concerns or the simple fact that 'The Man Don't Give a F**k' really is the best accompaniment to jumping up and down since the pogo. Whatever, the fact remains that they've never really thrown off the shackles of Indiedom to reach out to the rest of the music listening world.
Having been amongst the bands relocated following the demise of Creation and now finding themselves under the wing of big corporate dudes, Epic Records, 'Rings Around The World' has the best chance yet of reaching the audience that the band has always deserved. For one thing, it's the world's first simultaneous DVD and album release with a different film and remix for each track, truly a contemporary interactive experience.
It's also their most immaculately produced album to date, working again with 'Guerrilla' producer Chris Shaw. An ancient Chinese proverb says, "never doubt the abilities of a man with a background that takes in credits with the Bomb Squad on Ice Cube's seminal 'Amerikkka's Most Wanted', all the way through to Dylan's recent 'Things Have Changed.'" And who are we to question it?
It's the production that first strikes you upon listening to this album and it could prove some hurdle for the greasy fringed fraternity, given as many are to judging the quality of a release in inverse proportion to the quality of its production. This is often a wise credo but on this occasion it's one that just doesn't stand up. Beyond the shiny surface of these songs lurks an unusual wealth of detail decorating the landscape through which the Furries power, scattering verse after chorus after verse at breathtaking speed. Occasionally they pause to deconstruct their perfect structures and bring them crashing to earth with all the exhilarating thrill of an explosion. Elsewhere they're happy to leave them standing proud in their simple beauty.
'No Sympathy' develops from acoustic thrum to virtually unbearable machine noise in the space of six minutes leaving the listener wondering exactly how Peter, Paul & Mary mutated into Joey Beltram before their eyes. As is often the case on 'Rings Around The World', it's one of those moments where an idea from the back catalogue is finally perfected. 'Presidential Suite' opens with a snatch of 'Northern Lites' and building on the simple emotional resonance of 'Fire In My Heart', casts off any lingering fears about wind instruments and string sections to positively soar on a gorgeous wave of plucked strings and faded glamour.
'Run! Christian, Run!' is the point at which the band members' wildly differing musical visions crystallise to form the great electro country-rock epic (not that unlikely when you think about it). In its closing section, vocal harmonies, guitar, drums and piano meet the persistent repetition of the electro melody that underpins the song to mine a seam inaccessible to instruments alone.
The album finds the right balance between the three-minute pop bursts that characterised 'Guerrilla' and the intricate crazy stitching that made up 'Radiator' with a clarity capable of making past glories appear out of focus with hindsight. Elaborately conceived, documented in multiple media forms, with reluctant outtakes revealing themselves on the B-side of each single release: 'Rings Around The World' is the album with which the Super Furry Animals have closed a chapter in their career, perfecting themes they've been developing from the beginning. See what happens next.
by James Poletti