Track Review ⊙ Daily Ops Home
Super Furry Animals :: "Show Your Hand"From Hey Venus! (Rough Trade; 2007)
Worried that life was getting the Super Furry Animals down? Here they come charging back with what could well be their most straight-forward pop record since Radiator (1997). Okay, "straight-forward" may not be entirely fair -- it is the Furries after all -- but it's been a while since their love of psychedelic pop has been showcased so clearly, and they get right into it with "Show Your Hand," the album's lead single.
This is a catchy little number, just as we've come to expect from the band, expertly produced and flaunting their mastery of pop composition. Everything locks into place perfectly: the hazy backing vocals, that peppy drum line, the quietly muscular guitars, even the requisite horns and strings. The lyrics aren't much to write home about -- standard Gruff Rhys goofiness and lovesick imagery -- but, as always, the package reminds you that pop music is about much more than the lyrical content. If anything, the song's best moment is a minute and a half in, when the words fall back and Rhys lets loose with an effortless multitracked wordless breakdown. This may not have the staying power or the immediate pull of the Super Furry Animals' best singles, but it's not too far behind. After all this time it's hardly surprising, but it's still reassuring to watch the Furries nail it again.
Peter Hepburn :: 10 July 2007 |
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