Super Furry Animals are eclectic, to say the least. Fusing together pop melodies, psychedelia, and art rock with an impish, punky fury, the band cover more ground on their debut album, Fuzzy Logic, than most indie bands do in their entire career. However, the album works better as a series of... [+] Expand

Super Furry Animals are eclectic, to say the least. Fusing together pop melodies, psychedelia, and art rock with an impish, punky fury, the band cover more ground on their debut album, Fuzzy Logic, than most indie bands do in their entire career. However, the album works better as a series of moments than as a collection, mainly due to their overreaching ambition. Each song floats by on irresistible, catchy vocal harmonies, while the music alternates between glitzy overdriven guitars and sighing, sweeping keyboard, guitar, and string backdrops. Over these lush sonic beds, lead vocalist Gruff sings lyrics that are either mystical, nonsensical, or bizarrely funny -- none of the songs make much literal sense, but that doesn't quite matter when the music is as free-spirited as this. The songs may start conventionally, but they'll be undercut by wild synthesizers and careening guitar solos, or off-kilter vocal melodies. Taken as individual moments -- as the singles "God! Show Me Magic" (relatively straight-ahead punk-pop), "Hometown Unicorn" (gorgeous psychedelia), and "Something 4 the Weekend" (which finds the middle ground between the first two singles) prove -- the music of Super Furry Animals is quite intoxicating, but when assembled together, they don't sustain momentum. However, the individual pleasures of each song become more apparent with each listen and Fuzzy Logic suggests that the group could blossom into something quite distinctive and utterly unique within a few albums. [The expanded 2005 reissue of Fuzzy Logic contains a bonus disc with five B-sides: "Organ Yn Dy Geg," "Crys Ti," "Lazy Life (Of No Fixed Identity)," "Death by Melody," and "Waiting to Happen." These are not all of the Fuzzy Logic-era B-sides -- such highlights as "Guacamole" and "Don't Be a Fool, Billy" only appear on the B-sides compilation Outspaced. So, the bonus disc here and those on the other 2005 Super Furry reissues act as clearing-houses for B-sides that did not appear on Outspaced and do not contain all of the album's B-sides or any rarities. Plan your purchases accordingly.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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