943. Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World (2001)

Track Listing

1. Alternate Route To Vulcan Street
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. (Drawing) Rings Around The World
4. It's Not The End Of The World?
5. Receptacle For The Respectable
6. [A] Touch Sensitive
7. Shoot Doris Day
8. Miniature
9. No Sympathy
10. Juxtapozed With U
11. Presidential Suite
12. Run! Christian, Run!
13. Fragile Happiness

Review

Another really interesting album by the Super Furry Animals. In this case it is more interesting than downright enjoyable, as was the case in Fuzzy Logic. More than ever before they let loose on experimentalism in pop-music and that makes for quite a fascinating album.

When they are not doing Death Metal voices or heavy dub it sounds like a mix of Beach Boys harmonics, Elvis Costello, Burt Bacharach, Suede and Blur. That in itself is quite good, but then there is a never-ending amount of weird details that they have decided to add to the music.

In the end the album is pretty good, a lot of the tracks are thoroughly enjoyable and fun, at times it might seem that they indulge a bit too much in the experimentalism side, but it does add something to the album, raising it above just good.

Track Highlights

1. Presidential Suite
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. Receptacle for the Respectable
4. Run! Christian, Run!

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Rhys has claimed that the record was originally going to be a "state of the planet concept album" before the band decided against it although he concedes that the record is still "about Earth, and the pollution of space: it's about debris".

Presidential Suite: