MWNG

The Super Furry Animals are not your conventional rock band. "Hogia bach gwahanol" are our Furry friends. Any band whose prized on tour possession is a military tank, which they leave parked outside their gigs, can safely be described as being just a touch eccentric.

Their music is almost impossible to pigeon hole into a particular modern musical sub- genre; their songs are so very different, each album a musical journey from arty West Coast psychedelia, to blazoned unapologetic glam rock with passionate folk ballads and downright catchy pop tunes along the way. Lyrically diverse, their music pays homage to international drug smuggler Howard Marks, offers warnings against chewing gum in bed, and tells a story of a man who, well frankly, "doesn't give a damn".

And now with a metaphorical two finger salute to convention, with a move that could have (perhaps intentionally) ruined their chance of ever reaching the super-stadium filling status enjoyed by fellow Welsh bands Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Lostprophets, Funeral for a friend and Catatonia, the Super Furries have released a low budget album sung entirely in their native tongue. What other successful modern day band would risk critical derision and commercial calamity by producing their fourth album at a cost of a mere £6000, the lyrics of which are in a language spoken by less than a million people throughout the world.

On "Mwng" (translated as "Mane") the Super Furry Animals sound better than ever before. Never has vocalist Gruff Rhys sounded so raw and emotional, so clear and in such close harmony with his songs. The fact that he's singing in his own beautiful and mystical language is no coincidence of course and the slightly rough but eminently melodic tones of his native North Wales tongue lend a poignancy to the songs that singing in English could never have achieved. Coming from a very strong Welsh- speaking background Gruff has been accused of selling out by singing in English. Not unreasonably, he argues that by making a few songs in Welsh and with bi-lingual packaging of albums the Super Furries have increased awareness of the ancient Celtic language. With "Mwng", already the best selling Welsh language album ever, a top 10 in the UK and receiving critical acclaim in the States, the Super Furry Animals have raised that profile even further.

Although stripped of the mass of acoustic confusion one generally expects from multi- instrumentalist and techno-wizard Cian Ciaran, musically "Mwng" exhibits the usual diverse eclectic mix of Super Furry Animal sounds, an amalgam of their many musical influences.

The bouncy "Ymaelodi A'r Ymylon" ("Joining The Periphery") is perhaps something the Beach Boys could have produced had they spent a weekend surfing on the Pembrokeshire coast, whilst "Ysbeidiau Heulog" ("Sunny Intervals") recalls ELO at their meteorological best.

The album's lyrics are obviously influenced by the country and culture the band grew up with. The eerie Pan Ddaw'r Wawr" (translated as "When Dawn Breaks") discusses the death of rural communities and "Sarn Helen", (the name of the road the Romans built to link North and South Wales), laments the decline of infrastructure in Wales since the time of the Romans.

The album concludes with possibly the band's finest ever composition - "Gwreiddiau Dwfn" ("Deep Roots") and "Mawrth Oer Ar Y Blaned Neifion" ("Cold Mars On Neptune") an epic two part song about family roots and being tied to a piece of land.

Described by the band as a "politicised" rather than a political" statement, "Mwng" captures the Super Furry Animals at their very best, doing exactly what they want and channeling all their cultural pride in their beloved country into one fantastic record. MWYNHEWCH !!!!!