201) Super Furry Animals - Radiator

We have rightly praised Super Furry Animals way back in October 2023 with their excellent debut Fuzzy Logic

Released barely fifteen months later their second album Radiator was their first top ten album as they continued their journey as one of the most enjoyable bands of the decade.

Over fourteen tracks the five piece, who all contribute to the songwriting go through a variety of tunes, Fuzzy Logic was good but there is clear progress here with added musicians bringing in banjo, trumpet, violin, and trumpet.

Instrumental Furryvision eases us in before they launch into The Placid Casual all cymbals, vocals from all the band to pronounced effect and an off the cuff mad guitar ending before they launch straight into The International Language of Screaming which along with Chupacabras is the band thrashing and rocking out, to great effect.

Demons for me is the moment that I realised they were not just a good band but a great one. Quite simply it’s an anthem, banjo, trumpet employed to pronounced effect as it builds and builds, should have been huge but this was the year of Barbie Girl and Teletubbies so there’s your answer why it wasn’t.

We go on a run with She’s Got Spies (not a single but lesser bands would kill for it), Play It Cool and Hermann Loves Pauline which were singles, Oasis were releasing Do You Know What I Mean? this year, which songs would you rather listen to?

Bass Turned to D.E.A.D. is another favourite, enthusiastic vocals from Gruff and a wonderful chorus to Down a Different River with interesting electronics fermenting in the background and Download is simple and beautiful.

The album closes with the epic Mountain People and an album this good deserves to end with an epic song.

We haven’t seen them since 2016, they have never formally split up. How about a tenth album gentlemen?

8.5/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Demons