Super Furry Animals
Mwng
[Flydaddy]
Rating: 7.9
For a territory only slightly larger than New Jersey, Wales has done pretty well for itself.
Besides having its own language, flag, and cultural heritage, Wales has given the world Tom
Jones, Richard Burton, and the world's longest-named train station,
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantisiliogogogoch. Damn!
For a place with so much to its name, Wales' music has gone relatively unnoticed, until recently.
As bands like the Manic Street Preachers and Super Furry Animals gain in popularity, the new
"Cool Cymru" is drawing worldwide attention. Apparently, record executives scouting in the UK
now spend as much time searching for new talent in Wales as they do in the rest of Great Britain.
Super Furry Animals hold a special place among the new wave of hip Welsh bands. Whereas bands
like Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Catatonia might as well be English, Super Furry Animals have
always shown an affinity to their native language, demonstrated by the occasional lapse into
the Celtic tongue on past albums. Mwng (pronounced "moong") is the result of two weeks,
£6000, and a bunch of Welsh-language songs Super Furry singer Gruff Rhys has been writing since
the band's conception in 1995. The result is a charming batch of stripped-down rock songs that
isn't as fully realized or inventive as last year's Guerrilla, but still makes a damned
enjoyable listen.
Mwng's opening track, "Drygioni," may very well be its weakest moment. On Guerrilla,
Super Furry Animals milked seamless pop songs to their full potential with ingenious electronic
arrangements-- "Drygioni" feels almost forced. But the album quickly redeems itself with
"Ymaelodi Â'R Ymylon," a charming pop ditty complete with acoustic and electric guitars and
overdubbed vocal harmonies. It's a summery pop song with all the trimmings, but it lacks the
optimistic energy that made Guerrilla's poppier tunes so great. Mwng's high
point, though, comes with "Ysbeidiau Heulog," a decidedly retro number that combines the
swingin' sounds of the '60s with some high-tech vocal effects. It's easy to see why "Ysbeidiau
Heulog" was chosen as the first single from an album that's already reached #11 on the UK
charts.
The North American edition of Mwng comes with a bonus CD (called Mwng Bach),
which consists of six tracks that are, strangely, every bit as good as the bulk of Mwng,
if not better. Why the band didn't replace weaker tracks like "Drygioni" with obviously stronger
outtakes such as "Sali Mali," we'll never know.
As far as I'm concerned, Mwng isn't Super Furry Animals' true follow-up to Guerrilla.
The fact that these songs have been around for so long, and the fact that the band didn't put
too much time or money into the record, suggests that Mwng might be better regarded as a
prequel to the band's other three records, like Chuck Norris in "Missing in Action II: The
Beginning." Mwng's relative strength as a record demonstrates Rhys' talent as a
songwriter, but also demonstrates how much Cian Ciarân's electronic wizardry enhanced the
band's other records.
The lack of time and energy put into Mwng seem to have detracted from the fleshing-out
of the album's better tunes, surely making it somewhat more difficult to create the kind of
all-out pop masterpieces found on Guerrilla. Of course, Super Furry Animals have proven
their talents beyond the shadow of doubt-- Mwng couples cultural pride with unforgettable
melodies in a way few bands have ever attempted. That the band is capable of cramming a songs
with names like "Pan Ddaw'r Wawr" and "(Nid) Hon Yw'r Gan Sy'n Mynd i Achub yr Iaith" in your
head is commendable, if not downright astounding. But, as they say in the old country, "Heb
ddyfalbara athrylith ydy a 'n amhlantadwy gorweddfa:" Talent without perseverance is a barren
bed.
-Matt LeMay