Founded in Cardiff, Wales, this offbeat yet inventive indie pop band comprises Gruff Rhys (b. 18 July 1970, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales; vocals/guitar), Dafydd Ieuan (b. 1 March 1969, Bangor, North Wales; drums), Cian Ciaran (b. 16 June 1976, Bangor, North Wales; keyboards/electronics), Guto Pryce (b. 4 September 1972, Cardiff, Wales; bass) and Huw "Bunf" Bunford (b. 15 September 1967, Cardiff, Wales; guitar/vocals). Each member had worked in a series of underachieving bands before forming Super Furry Animals in 1993, although Ieuan was in the original line-up of future Welsh pop stars Catatonia. The next two years were spent writing and rehearsing original material. The first evidence of the band's distinctive, scabrous pop came with the release of the Welsh Concept EP for Cardiff independent Ankst Records in June 1995. Fully-titled Llanfairpwllgwygyllgogerchwyrndrobwllantysiliogo-goyocynygofod (In Space), the EP was a shameless attempt to get the band listed in the Guinness Book Of Records. The follow-up EP, Moog Droog, drew further praise.
Occasional London shows now brought the band to the attention of the media and, more significantly, Creation Records. Invited to submit some of their English-language material in demo form, the result was a long-term development contract with the noted English independent (the contract included a proviso that the band would never be forced to work on St. David's Day). Of course, their decision to sing in English attracted criticism from some of their former peers, but Rhys commented to the press: "The Welsh language music scene is very insular. There is no room for ambition and the environment can be very stifling. Although our language is very important to us we don't want to limit ourselves or our audience by singing entirely in Welsh."
The band's 1996 debut album, Fuzzy Logic, was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, and showcased their ambitions to "push technology to the limit". It included their debut single for Creation, "Hometown Unicorn" (the story of a French barrow-boy who was allegedly abducted by aliens in 1979) and the album's second single, "God! Show Me Magic". Subsequent singles "Something 4 The Weekend" and "If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You" broke the band into the UK Top 20. Critical approval as well as a growing fanbase confirmed their breakthrough, and proved that 60s retro-pop could still sound fresh. In the meantime the band continued to agitate the Welsh mainstream media - causing uproar at the Welsh BAFTA Awards and denouncing Tory Party agent Elwyn Jones as a "neo-fascist" live on the I-Dot youth programme. Their Christmas single, "The Man Don't Give A F**k", used a Steely Dan sample which resulted in the song, not surprisingly, being banned from the airwaves. Further late 60s shenanigans were apparent with the lighter Radiator. This was the band's equivalent of the Beach Boys' Friends album - an understated but ultimately rewarding collection. The Ice Hockey Hair EP was released in May 1998, and a compilation of b-sides a few months later. The reggae-styled "Northern Lites" provided the band with a UK Top 20 hit in May 1999, and was followed by the excellent Guerilla.
After the collapse of Creation the Super Furry Animals inaugurated their own record label, releasing their first Welsh-language album in May 2000. Rings Around The World, their debut for Epic Records, was a wildly ambitious concept album about global communication. A DVD version, featuring specially commissioned individual film shorts, was released simultaneously. 2003's Phantom Power was even more impressive, with the band showing no sign of running out of ideas. Gruff Rhys released his solo debut, Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, at the start of 2005, before returning to the Super Furry Animals to complete work on their new studio album. Everything they had pioneered and borrowed came together on the magnificent Love Kraft, released later in the year.
Following the end of their contract with Epic, the band followed frontman Gruff Rhys to a new home at Rough Trade Records. Their debut for the label, Hey Venus!, was released in August 2007. Commercial considerations are now a thing of the past; this band has chosen the path of creativity and long may they continue.
