Super Furry Animals: "Radiator" (Creation)

There are some weird bands coming out of Wales at the moment, and Super Furry Animals are getting stranger by the day

There are some weird bands coming out of Wales at the moment, and Super Furry Animals are getting stranger by the day. Radiator is the follow-up to last year's well-received Fuzzy Logic, and once again it combines strong prog-rock leanings with avid Beatles influences and lots of avant-Cardiff experimentation. The jazzy Placid Casual recalls those 1970s Welsh spacers, Man, while The International Language Of Screaming is a catchy, universal pop song, a classic hit from an alternative, Welsh-dominated pop universe; the recent hit single, Herman 's Pauline, is an everyday schoolyard love story nicked from Ray Davies's copybook. And of course you don't need me to tell you what Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir is about - you need a Welsh dictionary. Radiator might be a tad inscrutable, but its bright, fuzzy colours make many of the current English bands sound pale and grey.

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney is an Irish Times journalist