Super Furry Animals formed in Cardiff in 1993 after the founding members had been in various other Welsh bands and techno outfits in the area. Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), and Dafydd Ieuan (drums, vocals) had been together since the early 1990's, and had toured France as a techno group, but after Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), and Ieuan's younger brother Cian Ciaran (keyboards, synthesisers, electronics) joined they wrote some songs, and in 1995 signed to Ankst, a Welsh indie label. The band are considered to be part of the renaissance of Welsh music, art and literature in the 1990's, alongside other Welsh bands of the time, including The Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Catatonia and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The earliest Super Furry Animals track commercially available is 'Dim Brys: Dim Chwys', which was recorded in 1994 for Radio Cymru, and is an ambient piece, showing the band's techno roots. However, by the time it was released on the 'Triskedekaphilia' compilation album in August 1995, the band had already put out their debut EP on the Ankst label, with the 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod (In Space) EP' appearing in June, and it instantly made an appearnace in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest-ever title for an EP. The 'Moog Droog EP' followed in October 1995, named after the synthesiser manufacturer Robert Moog and the Nadsat term for "friend" in A Clockwork Orange, but it could also be a pun on the Welsh "mwg drwg", meaning "wacky baccy", and the lyrics on all the tracks on both EP's were in Welsh, except for 'God! Show Me Magic'. After gigging in London in late 1995, they were noticed by Creation Records boss Alan McGee at the Camden Monarch club, who signed them to his label.
On signing them McGee did insist that they sing in English rather than Welsh for future shows, but by this stage they were already singing in English, although McGee didn't realise because their Welsh accents were so strong. This decision did cause them to receive some criticism in the Welsh media, but they felt that singing in English would broaden their fanbase. In February 1996, the band's debut on Creation, 'Hometown Unicorn', became New Musical Express's Single of the Week, chosen by guest reviewers Pulp, and the first of their singles to chart in the UK Top 50, while a re-recording of 'God! Show Me Magic' reached No. 33. In May, their debut album 'Fuzzy Logic' was released to wide critical acclaim, and although initial sales were slow, it garnered a little more interest when a reworked, more mellow version of 'Something 4 The Weekend' was released as a single, and following considerable radio airplay it broke into the UK Top 20 at No. 18. The final single from the album, 'If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You', was to have been backed by a track called 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck', but there were problems in clearing a sample from 'Showbiz Kids' by Steely Dan which formed the basis of the chorus, and it was switched for a different song. The band always regrarded 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck' as one of their best songs, and so continued their efforts to clear the sample, and when they finally managed it, the song was released in December 1996 as a limited edition single in its own right.
In early 1997, the group completed a speedy follow-up to 'Fuzzy Logic', and released two taster singles, in 'Hermann ♥'s Pauline' in May and 'The International Language Of Screaming' in July, both of which stalled in the mid-20's of the UK charts. 'Radiator' hit the shelves in August, and the reviews were, if anything, better than those for 'Fuzzy Logic', and it sold more quickly than its predecessor, reaching a peak of No. 8. Two further singles were issued from the album, but both 'Play It Cool' and 'Demons' couldn't do any better in the charts than the first two. After a chance to think about their music and their direction, SFA decided to record a new record in early 1998 at Gorwel Owen's house, and they released the 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP in May, which is now widely held as one of their finest moments. In November 1998, the compilation album 'Out Spaced' was released, collecting together some of their 1995 Ankst recordings, a few of their favourite b-sides, plus 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck' and 'Smokin''. In May 1999, 'Northern Lites' was released to herald their new album, and it made No. 11 in the charts, featuring a dense production, clattering steel drums, and irreverent lyrics about the El Niño-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon. It was an apt taster for the new album, 'Guerrilla', which retained their pop melodies, but took a less guitar-centric approach to their execution, and was their most experimental work to date. Layers of samples over brass, percussion and Gruff's melodic singing produced an album which swung from glam and garage rock numbers ('Night Vision', 'The Teacher') to novelty techno ('Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)'), ambient indietronica ('Some Things Come From Nothing') and upbeat drum and bass ('The Door To This House Remains Open').
'Fire In My Heart' followed 'Northern Lights' as a single, while the final song to be extracted from the album, 'Do Or Die', was their last on Creation, as Alan McGee set off to pursue other interests. It had always been their plan to release their next album on their own label, Placid Casual, as it would be a deliberate sidestep from their recent work, being a largely acoustic album of Welsh language songs entitled 'Mwng'. It was preceded in May 2000 by a limited edition (of 3000) 7" record, with 'Ysbeidiau Heulog' backed with 'Charge', a hard-rock jam recorded as a Peel Session for the BBC. The album, released the same month, sold remarkably well for a non-English album, and it received a rare distinction for a pop record, being commended in Parliament for its efforts in keeping the Welsh language alive. With the demise of Creation, SFA needed to find a new label for their next album, and as Sony had long held a substantial stake in Creation, they offered deals to many ex-Creation artists, signing the band to their Epic offshoot. The greater resources afforded them by Epic were apparent in their first album for the label, as 'Rings Around The World' recaptured the cohesive, experimental feel of 'Guerrilla', but was more song-driven and sonically expansive. It is cited by many critics and fans alike as their most polished and accessible work, and again the first single was a good indication of what was to come, with 'Juxtapozed With U' being a lush soul record, which made No. 14 in the charts in July 2001.
The album followed in the same month and major label marketing muscle made it their biggest-seller to date, reaching No. 3 in the album charts, with one of the tracks from the album, 'Receptacle For the Respectable', featuring Paul McCartney on "carrot and celery rhythm track" (a homage to his performance on the Beach Boys' 'Vegetables'). It also included some of their more experimental tracks, such as 'Sidewalk Serfer Girl' (which switches between light techno-pop and hardcore punk), '[A] Touch Sensitive' (gloomy trip-hop) and 'No Sympathy' (which descends into chaotic drum'n'bass). 'Rings Around The World' was also remarkable for being the world's first simultaneous release of an audio and DVD album, and it was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001. Their next record, 'Phantom Power', relied less on sound experimentation and proved to be a more stripped-down, back-to-basics affair, and although the reviews were generally good, and it sold well initially, it broke little new ground by SFA's standards, and it appeared that the band had fallen out of fashion. Perhaps recognising that their approach to 'Phantom Power' had been a little too straightforward, the group followed it up in 2004 with a remix version, 'Phantom Phorce', with tracks reworked by the likes of Killa Kela, Four Tet and Brave Captain. They accompanied this with a download single, 'Slow Life', which also included the track 'Motherfokker', a collaboration with Goldie Lookin Chain. In early 2005, Gruff Rhys released a solo album 'Yr Atal Genhedlaeth', ("The Stuttering Generation", and also a play on words as "Atal Genhedlu" means contraception), sung all in Welsh, on which he played most of the instruments himself, mainly using guitars, drums and his own multi-tracked voice.
In August 2005, SFA released their seventh studio effort, 'Love Kraft', which was recorded in Spain, and which represented a departure from their previous working methods. Although all five members had always contributed to the development of the songs, Rhys had been the main songwriter, but on this album this was no longer the case, as Rhys, Bunford, Ieuan and Ciaran all contributed songs and lead vocals. The laid-back ambience recalls early-1970's Beach Boys albums such as 'Surf's Up', whilst the heavy use of strings suggested the likes of Scott Walker and Curtis Mayfield. The album's cool commercial reception suggested that they had returned to their familiar status of critically acclaimed cult favourites, but 'Love Kraft' was to be their final album released under Epic Records, as their contract expired in early 2006. The band signed to Rough Trade Records during 2006, with Gruff Rhys also signing to the label as a solo artist, and in late 2006 he released the 'Candylion' 7" single, followed by the album of the same name in January 2007. SFA's first release for Rough Trade was recorded in a chateau in the south of France, and 'Hey Venus!' was released in August 2007, faring slightly better than its predecessor, and peaking at No. 11 in the albums chart. In March 2009, the band released their ninth and final studio album, 'Dark Days/Light Years', digitally via their website, with a physical release following in April, resulting in a number 23 UK Chart placement. It received strong critical feedback, but as the singles released from it were also digital, then for the first time since they started out, there were no exclusive tracks added to them. In 2010, Super Furry Animals went on what became a five-year hiatus, before reforming in May 2015 to play several gigs to accompany a major reissue of their 15-year-old album 'Mwng'. During their long career, SFA have always treated their fans well, adding non-album songs to the flips of all their singles, and even though there are quite a number of collaborations, compilation appearances, demos and out-takes floating around, this post features just the non-album singles, EP tracks and b-sides, as I think that a five-disc collection of rarities from the band will satisfy even their most ardent fans.
Track listing
Disc I - 1995-1996
01 Organ Yn Dy Geg (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
02 Fix Idris (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
03 Crys Ti (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
04 Blerwytirhwng? (from 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll... (In Space)' EP 1995)
05 PamV? (from 'Moog Droog' EP 1995)
06 Sali Mali (from 'Moog Droog' EP 1995)
07 Focus Pocus/Debiel 'Moog Droog' EP 1995)
08 (Nid) Hon Yw'r Gan Sy'n Mynd I Achub Yr Iaith (single 1996)
09 Lazy Life (Of No Fixed Identity) (b-side of 'Hometown Unicorn' 1996)
10 Don't Be A Fool, Billy! (b-side of 'Hometown Unicorn' 1996)
11 Death By Melody (b-side of 'God! Show Me Magic' 1996)
12 Dim Bendith (b-side of 'God! Show Me Magic' 1996)
Disc II - 1996-1997
01 Waiting To Happen (b-side of 'Something 4 The Weekend' 1996)
02 Arnofio/Glô In The Dark (b-side of 'Something 4 The Weekend' 1996)
03 The Man Don't Give A Fuck (b-side of 'If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You' 1996)
04 Guacamole (b-side of 'If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You' 1996)
05 Calimero (b-side of 'Hermann Loves Pauline' 1997)
06 Trôns Mr Urdd (b-side of 'Hermann Loves Pauline' 1997)
07 Wrap It Up (b-side of 'The International Language Of Screaming' 1997)
08 Foxy Music (b-side of 'The International Language Of Screaming' 1997)
09 nO.K. (b-side of 'The International Language Of Screaming' 1997)
10 Pass The Time (b-side of 'Play It Cool' 1997)
11 Cryndod Yn Dy Lais (b-side of 'Play It Cool' 1997)
Disc III - 1997-1999
01 Hit And Run (b-side of 'Demons' 1997)
02 Carry The Can (b-side of 'Demons' 1997)
03 Ice Hockey Hair (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
04 Smokin' (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
05 Mu-Tron (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
06 Let's Quit Smoking (from 'Ice Hockey Hair' EP 1998)
07 Rabid Dog (b-side of 'Northern Lights' 1999)
08 This, That And The Other (b-side of 'Northern Lights' 1999)
09 The Matter Of Time (b-side of 'Fire In My Heart' 1999)
10 Mrs Spector (b-side of 'Fire In My Heart' 1999)
Disc IV - 2000-2003
01 Missunderstanding (b-side of 'Do Or Die' 2000)
02 Colorblind (b-side of 'Do Or Die' 2000)
03 Charge (b-side of 'Ysbeidiau Heulog' 2000)
04 Tradewinds (b-side of 'Juxtapozed With U' 2001)
05 Happiness Is A Worn Pun (b-side of 'Juxtapozed With U' 2001)
06 Edam Anchorman (b-side of '(Drawing) Rings Around The World' 2001)
07 All The Shit U Do (b-side of '(Drawing) Rings Around The World' 2001)
08 The Roman Road (b-side of 'It's Not The End Of The World?' 2002)
09 Gýpsy Space Muffin (b-side of 'It's Not The End Of The World?' 2002)
10 Summer Snow (b-side of 'Golden Retriever' 2003)
11 Blue Fruit (b-side of 'Golden Retriever' 2003)
Disc V - 2003-2007
01 Cowbird (b-side of 'Hello Sunshine' 2003)
02 Sanitizzzed (b-side of 'Hello Sunshine' 2003)
03 Motherfokker (b-side of 'Slow Life' 2003)
04 Lost Control (b-side of 'Slow Life' 2003)
05 Sunny Seville (b-side of 'Lazer Beam' 2005)
06 Colonise The Moon (b-side of 'Lazer Beam' 2005)
07 Never More (b-side of 'Show Your Hand' 2007)
08 Aluminium Illuminati (b-side of 'Show Your Hand' 2007)
09 These Bones (b-side of 'Run Away' 2007)
10 That's What I'm Talking About (b-side of 'Run Away' 2007)
