超级毛绒动物

Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian Ciaran (keyboards, synthesisers, various electronics, occasional guitar, vocals), and Dafydd Ieuan (drums, vocals). An earlier incarnation of the band featured actor Rhys Ifans on lead vocals. The band are considered to be part of the renaissance of Cool Cymru Welsh culture which emerged in the 1990s; other Welsh bands of the time include the Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Catatonia and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci.

Super Furry Animals have recorded nine UK Albums Chart Top 25 studio albums (one BPI certified Gold and four certified Silver), plus numerous singles, EPs, compilations and collaborations. The band were known as central to the Cool Cymru era during which they were dominant, and are the act with the most top 40 hits without reaching the UK Singles Chart Top 10. Over the course of nine albums, Super Furry Animals has been described as "one of the most imaginative bands of our time" by Billboard, while according to a 2005 article in NME, "There's a case to be argued that [Super Furry Animals] were the most important band of the past 15 years".

History

1990–1993: Formation

Super Furry Animals formed in Cardiff in 1993 after the members had been part of various other bands in Wales: Gruff Rhys and Dafydd Ieuan had played together in Ffa Coffi Pawb, whilst Huw Bunford and Guto Pryce were previously members of U Thant. Actor Rhys Ifans joined them as lead vocalist, and started to perform initially in a techno style before becoming more rock-orientated. Ifans would shortly leave however once his acting career took off, with Gruff Rhys stepping in on lead vocals.

The name of the band came from T-shirts being printed by Rhys' sister. She was making Super Furry Animals T-shirts for the fashion and music collective Acid Casuals (variants of whose name have appeared throughout Super Furry Animals' career – for example, in their song "The Placid Casual", their record label Placid Casual). The band has also made reference to Elvis Costello, and Wynton Marsalis as major influences in their work.

1994–1995: Early recordings

The earliest Super Furry Animals track commercially available is "Dim Brys: Dim Chwys", recorded in 1994 for Radio Cymru: an ambient piece, the track shows the band's techno roots. However, by the time it was released (on the "Triskedekaphilia" compilation album in August 1995), the band had already put out their debut EP on the Ankst label. The Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod (In Space) EP appeared in June 1995 and has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest-ever title for an EP.

The Moog Droog EP followed in October 1995, named after the synthesiser manufacturer Robert Moog and the Nadsat term for "friend" in A Clockwork Orange. The EP's title is also a pun on the Welsh mwg drwg slang for cannabis, literally "bad (or naughty) smoke". The lyrics on all the tracks on both EPs were in Welsh, except for "God! Show Me Magic" from "Moog Droog". Around this time, Cian Ciaran, Ieuan's younger brother, joined the band full-time as keyboard player after previously being part of electronic outfit Wwzz and the Acid Casuals collective.

After gigging in London in late 1995, they were noticed by Creation Records boss Alan McGee at the Camden Monarch club, who signed them to his label. Creation was also home to Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine and Teenage Fanclub, and had recently found massive commercial success with Oasis. The band have said that having watched their gig, McGee asked them if they could sing in English rather than Welsh in future shows. In fact, by this stage they were singing in English, but McGee did not realise because their Welsh accents were so strong. The Super Furry Animals received some criticism in the Welsh media for singing in English, something which the band felt "completely pissed" about. According to drummer Dafydd Ieuan: "It all started when we played this festival in West Wales, and for some reason the Welsh media started foaming at the mouth because we were singing songs in Welsh and English. But they get The Dubliners playing and they do not sing in Irish. It's ridiculous." The band have explained that the decision to sing in English was taken in order to broaden their fanbase.