Created by a swarm of locusts
Number of the bees
Phantom Power is the Super Furry’s sixth album and for no reason other than numerical tidiness here are six reasons why we love their animal magic. >i<isz Rodger Evans
Singer (irul'l' Rli_\.x uxed to he \Yelxh. But the man .lonathan Roxx tlL‘xL‘l‘ilk‘x ax poxxcxxillg a ll'tllllliltltllll"\ .xidehurnx recentl) enjo} ed a career hooxt. ‘l'\c been promoted to Bra/iliali.' he told a Bech w ehchat. l'cllow liurr) ('ian had another revelation: ‘l neVer wax \Velxh to xtart w ith?
We _iu.xt made it uP to get along in the muxic huxinexx.’ (irull‘
put the quextion ol- national identin into perxpecti\e h) explaining that he loxex where he‘x l‘rom hut parochial he ain't. ‘\\'e'd he proud of heing anything. We happen to he \VL‘l\ll..
2 The immortal Bill llickx l‘eaturcx in Sl'}\'.x li\'e xet. a loop of
the comic‘x \oice declaring ':\l| gm'ernmentx are liarx and murdererx' ax imagex ol‘ 'l‘oad)‘ Blair and \\'tlhhe_\a Buxh are projected onto the hackdrop. Thix. h_\ wa} ol' intro to the hand'x inl'amoux techno-punk anthem. ‘The .\lan l)on‘t (}i\'c a l’uck'. Incidentally rumour ha.x it they are conxidering .xwitching their xtage technolog} l‘rom xtii'i‘otilid .xound to mono hecauxc the} heliexe _\ou can pla} louder with the latter. ()ne louder'.’ You know when _\ou‘\e hcen Spinal Tapped?
3 .-\l T in the Park the} were joined onxtage h_\ kettledrum planing Yetix. .\'ot amone can don the l'urr} liend outlit mind A it’x a tougher gi . xa}. than playing a panda with the l’laming l.ip.x thougl ma} he not ax texting ax heing the (‘low n in Slipknot. (iuitarixt Bunl explainx: "l'herc'x criteria to he a Yeti. You hare to he rh_\'thmicall} ,xound. You'xe got to haxc .xome .on1 ol' moio. )Ull know.’
4 You prohahl) know that John Lennon claimed the moniker
of the moxt lamoux hand in the world came to him l'ollow ing a \‘ixitation l'rom a wee man on ‘a llaming pie‘ who told him ‘hencel‘orth _\ou shall he Beatlex with an ‘a". But did _\ou know how Sl-‘A got their name‘.’ The l-‘urr} liellow the} call (into tellx the tale: ‘lt appeared in letterx in the xk_\. [Re no idea where it came from I think a .xwarm ol loctlxtx created it.‘ More name calling — did §ou hear (irul'l' on Radio 2 the other week when the al‘orementioned land haplexxl Jonathan
42 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 3' _ _. ‘ .
Roxx axked how he xhould pronounce the name ol' a \\'elin hand called l‘la ('ol'li l’awh'.’l liu‘l' polite. the l"iii'l'_\'\ \injier declined to illlpl'm c on .lR\ cl'l‘ol'tx.
5 Sli-Vx lo\e ol‘ prankx pink lankx. drumming )elix. giant dancing inl'latahlc hearx. l'righlening poxtmen with
Kalaxhnikm x. celer} munching llcatlcx. hanging out
with Howard .\larkx etc etc might ptlt xome
puntcrx oil the hand. I mean. are the} xcrioux or
w hat'.’ Well. the} clearly cnjo} liming a laugh lat
themxelxcx more than an)thingl hut thcxe anticx and A
ad\cnturex do nothing to undermine their mercurial RHYTHMICALLY SOUND'
ahilit} to knock out lahuloux px} chcdelic numherx poeticixing the political. the pcrxonal and. )L‘x. the ahxurd. There ix craft in their cra/inexx and merit in their madnexx and llohod) xhould dixmixx them ax an a-religioux. xemi-m} xlical. cr}pto-cult ol oddhall (‘cltic xtonerx. ll‘ onl_\ hecauxc the} xecm like reall) nice gti}x and it ma} uper their a-religioux. xemi- lll_\ xtical. cr_\pto-cu|tixh oddhall ('eltic xtoncr xenxihilitiex.
6 ‘Yenux and Serena'. a track on the new l.l’. ix ahout a woll— ho) who ix adopted h) humanx hut allowed to keep hix pet toitoixex named alter the \Yilliamx xixterx. ‘I think it'x ahoul making picturex in peopch mintle xa}x (irul‘l‘ helpl'ull). He told .llojo maga/ine: "lie [the hiwl xecmx to ha\c more truxt in hix pctx than hix elderx. Thexe da}x animalx juxt xccm inlinitel) w ixer than. for c\amplc. politicianx.'
Queen’s Hall, 0870 169 0100, 7 Aug, 7.30pm, £15.
IF YOU LIKE THIS. YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
E Gorky Zygotic Mynci and desc It's not only nationality that links GOrky's and the Super Furry Yetis. They also share a sense of melody and humour. paired With the resolutely un-trippy attitude that absolutely anything goes — and that applies (in spirit at least) to support here too. in the shape of the inimitable desc. Liquid Room, 0870 769 0700, 4 Aug. 7pm. £8.